Just Another Sunday

It is 1968 and Lia Benedict is number 2 of 5 siblings and has spent most of her childhood in Brooklyn but her family has moved her to New Jersey. This is the 4th time they have moved and Lia already hates it and misses her New York lifestyle. She is 15 and really tired of changing schools and starting all over again. On her first day of school it's raining like crazy and she manages to get soaked just getting to the bus. That is where she meets Darla. Darla is also 15 and they are both in the 10th grade.

 Darla and Lia make fast friends and on their way home from school Lia meets Jesse Carlisle. Jesse doesn’t go to school with Lia because he dropped out to go to trade school. He becomes smitten with Lia right from the start and vows that he will marry her someday. Jesse and Lia date pretty seriously but that all falls apart when Jesse got in trouble with his friends and is sent to join the Army. Lia pines for Jesse for some time but with some help from Darla she begins to date again.
 
Over the next few years Lia and Jesse grow apart even though Jesse still loves Lia deeply. He sends letters but she rarely replies. Lia dates a little and spends time with friend but not Darla anymore. Darla starts to do drugs and her drinking gets out of control and that just isn't Lia's idea of a good time. She drinks a little but manages to keep it under control. All is well with Lia as she finished school and becomes a medical assistant in a doctor’s office. But her world is flipped completely upside down when her father dies unexpectedly. Her mother falls to pieces and looks for comfort in a different religion other than their devout Catholic ways. Lia wants to drown her pain and bad boy Vic Sommers is just the way to do that.
 
Review:

This is meant to be a young adult novel but I think it would be a hard sell to a younger crowd. The book is a little slow so I think it would be better suited for adults. I'm also kind of unsure if this fiction or non-fiction. The author notes in her acknowledgements about how she used her own life to write the chapters, leaving me very confused about the content. I was also disappointed with the way the book ended, it just adbruptively ends with no real definitive idea of what actually happens. After all the details of Lia's life the ending seemed rushed. All in all I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.