Something Real.

Demetrios, Heather.  Something Real.  Macmillan/Henry Holt  2014  406p  $17.99  ISBN 978-0-8050-9794-8  jr/sr  Realistic fiction  VG-BN   

Bonnie Baker grew up on the hit reality show Baker's Dozen, but since the show was cancelled she has tried to live a normal life.  Unfortunately, the show is unexpectedly renewed, which wreaks havoc on her dreams of normalcy.  The show had different effects on each of the fifteen members of her family. (She has twelve siblings, most of them adopted.)  Some have adapted to real life better than others.  Bonnie, who prefers to go by the name Chloe, was finally beginning to have something approaching a normal life, and maybe even a boyfriend, when her mother and stepfather decided to sign on for a reboot of the show, forcing Bonnie to resume her hated role in the spotlight.  This book will get people talking, whether they love reality television or hate it, but there is more to it than that.  The story will affect readers as they follow Bonnie through the challenges of unwelcome fame and the psychological trauma that can result from a lifetime lived on camera, not to mention the difficulties of taking care of oneself, even when it means going against your family.  Bonnie/Chloe's massive family is surprisingly well-developed for a supporting cast of that size and scope, and even though most people do not live on a television show, their trials come across as very real.  This is a strong first novel from an emerging new author.

Summary: Bonnie Baker grew up on the hit reality show Baker's Dozen, but since the show was cancelled she has tried to live a normal life.  Unfortunately, the show is unexpectedly renewed, which wreaks havoc on her dreams of normalcy.

           

Families-Fiction, Reality television-Fiction          --Bethany Geleskie