Title: Notes From the Blender
Author: Trish Cook [website] [twitter] & Brendan Halpin
[website] [twitter]
Genre: Contemporary
Publisher: Egmont USA
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Parental Advisory: language, sexual identity, assault, sexual innuendo and sexuality
Teachable Moments: divorce, remarriage, blended families, peer pressure, adultery, sexual identity, coping with death

“Neilly and I sat next to each other in the circle when youth group started and made jokes when Sarah said something unintentionally sexual.  It was nice for a couple of reasons.  One, of course was that I was making sex jokes with a hot girl.  Although, strangely, now that I was closer to Neilly, scoring with her seemed even more impossible than it had when she didn’t even know my name.  The other was that it was just nice to feel like I was part of something.  Like I had something to belong to.”

Summary (from the publisher):
Declan loves four things: Scandinavian death metal, violent video games, internet porn, and Neilly Foster.  He spends most of his classroom time wondering what it might be like to talk to her, date her, maybe even brush against her chest in the hallway.

Neilly is naturally beautiful, and a fixture at all the best parties (to which Declan is never invited).  But in one horrible day, she gets dumped by her boyfriend, is betrayed by her former BFF, and walks in on her mom with some stranger.

Turns out the stranger is Declan’s dad.  And he’s marrying Neilly’s mom.  Soon.  Which means Dec and Neilly will be siblings.

Opinion:
Notes from the Blender is not the most unique story in the world. But you know what?  I was ok with that.  It was a fun, enjoyable and humorous read that felt somewhat similar to the Brady Bunch.  Granted, it was a much smaller blended family and the language and situations were a bit more colorful but still, at it’s heart, the plot is about two families coming together to rebuild as one.

I liked it.

What made the book for me most?  Definitely the characters.  Ultimately it didn’t really matter what situation they were in because I just loved who they were and how they interacted.  Most especially Declan.  Here’s a boy, a bit of a social outcast, who knows who he is, likes what he likes and embraces it.  He doesn’t feel any burning desire or particular need to change himself, not even to score the hottest chick in school (ie: his future step-sister).  This is admirable and endearing and all sorts of the right message to send.  Not that this book was all message-y to begin with because it so wasn’t.  Dec was just down with it all — not afraid to be a wise-ass, totally into being himself, loves his family, is a bit pervy for girls (age-appropriately) and just all kinds of awesome.

For her part, Declan’s counterpart Neilly isn’t to shabby in the well-adjusted department either.  Slightly more ill at ease and self-conscious than Dec she is, for the most part, comfortable in her own skin.  She knows she’s popular and she’s not unsure of her beauty or afraid to accentuate it.  Neilly is endearing in a self-deprecating way, she’s somewhat timid and not entirely confident of her ability to exercise good judgement but she still makes good decisions when it counts.  One of the strengths of the story is showing how Neilly moves from the perception that she unobtainable and unapproachable into a softer more inclusive member of the social and family structures.

Together Declan and Neilly build a relationship with each other that is far stronger than siblings who share blood.  Each are struggling with the impending marriage of their parents and they both wonder if there are ways to stop it but in the end recognition of the value in their new family wins out.  As part of that process there is insight given into how each is dealing with greater issues — Neilly is trying to get through finding out about her boyfriend’s infidelity and Declan is trying to adjust to the loss of his mother.  The most emotional and powerful part of the story is how abandoned Declan feels by his mother’s death and the fact that his father seems to be replacing her (and, he feels, in some ways him too) by changing their lives for one that includes a new wife and step-daughter.  The latter packs a greater emotional punch but don’t discount the former’s ability to pack it’s own emotional punch.

For their part, mom and pop don’t always handle their family’s pending convergence well.  At times they are quite selfish in their expectations of their children.  It isn’t as though they aren completely discounting Declan and Neilly’s feeling on the matter they just aren’t making them the ONLY factor.  To me, that’s a dose of realism that makes the story more enjoyable.  Things aren’t always shiny and happy and they aren’t always perfect.  Though Notes From the Blender isn’t designed to be a book that delves deeply into the most emotional parts of death, rebuilding and adultery Cook and Halpin show the flaws in these situations well.

There are some romantic moments for both Neilly and Declan, a great cast of friends of family to wade through, and quite a few relationship challenges.  All mixed together, this makes Notes From the Blender a fun and entertaining read that has some emotional high points to boot. Cook and Halpin get the teenage mind and voice down with great skill while providing the reader a story with some moments of emotional depth.