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I'm finding this book difficult to get into, but it's quite interesting despite that. I haven't finished it yet, but I'll work on answering some of the discussion questions.

2. On page 70, Mosey realizes she isn’t who she thought she was. At first, she feels liberated. Then she feels confused and lost. How is she like Liza and Big? What makes her different? Do you think a child takes on traits like compassion, humor, and good sense from her biological parents, or do you think that she learns these from the people who raise her?
There's a lot to answer here! As the book goes on, I feel that Mosey really comes into her own. She's grown up not wanting to be like Liza or Big because of their teen pregnancies, but despite learning how different she truly is, I think it gives her motivation to want to be like them finally. I think that, for the most part, we create ourselves. We take on advice and lessons from those who raise us, but as we see with Liza and Mosey, we don't always learn our characteristics or values from our parents.

5. One theme in A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty is belonging. On page 224, Big says, “Bogo wasn’t the only stray that Mosey had adopted for us all recently.� Who do you think are the “strays� in this story? When do they find a home?
I think that Mosey was the first stray, really. To some extent, Liza is a stray now too, after her stroke.

I found it difficult to get into as well, but once I was into it I really wanted to finish!

3. Who was most loyal? At first I thought Roger was definitely the most loyal, but when I started thinking about, he tended to get caught up in his own feelings rather than what Mosey really wanted. Patti I really think was the most loyal because she does what is right for her friends. Big is really loyal too, though, She doesn't give up on Liza's rehabilitation and doesn't judge her when she knows that Liza stole Mosey; she doesn't treat Mosey any differently once she knows she's not really her granddaughter. It's a difficult question.

Not part of the questions, but did anyone else notice that some of the references weren't quite right? Mosey talks about Disney World and Big Ben, but Big wouldn't have been able to afford trips to Disney World and especially London. Also, being from the south I found some of the southern-isms a bit too much.

Once I finished, it was great! I loved the ending, and the writing in the 2nd half of the book I found to be much stronger.

I didn't actually notice the references, but even if they didn't go there, they'd at least know about them. Something I wasn't a fan of was all the references to pop culture. As a writer, I try not to date my work, if that makes sense, by mentioning bands, shows, or even years. I write sci-fi, so that's obviously different than this book where I suppose it's acceptable. While it makes it relatable to people today, five years from now it may not be so much. I'm not from the south, so I'm not able to comment on that either!

9. Did they overreact? I think they did to an extent. All you can do is be honest with your daughter, and completely open. Share with them the hardships of being a single/teen parent. It can go either way if you put too many rules in place. They're either rebel, or they'll want to prove themselves as Mosey did, by being the best they can be. I don't think Mosey was behaving properly for the right reasons. She wasn't focusing on school because she thought it was best for her; she did it because she didn't want to be anything like her mother or grandmother.

I didn't find this book difficult to get into at all. I was hooked from the beginning and really enjoyed this. Somewhere along the line I had dismissed Joshilyn Jackson, but after reading this book, I thought I would definitely read her other titles!