Necessary Parties by Barbara Dana

My parents never used to be concerned about other people's opinions. I personally think it's a poor idea to do something, or not do something, because of what someone else will think. No matter what you do there's always going to be somebody, somewhere, thinking you're weird. It's a price you pay for living.
Christopher Mills, aged 15, used to have the perfect family life. He and his sister got along amazingly well, their parents cared about them... And most importantly, their parents cared about each other.
Now, however, that's changing. Over dinner, Chris and Jenny (his sister)'s parents tell them they're getting a divorce. Chris thinks he should have seen it... After all, the fighting has been going on for a long time. But that doesn't mean he's happy about it. He's seen the affect of divorces... His best friend Haverman's parents have each been divorced four times. That's a total of 7 divorces. Each time, Haverman's life seems ruined.
Chris isn't going to let that happen to his family.
The thing is, his parents still love each other. Deep, deep, DEEEEEEEP down, they love each other. And Chris knows that as soon as they get divorced, they'll realize it and it'll be too late. What if they're married to other people? But what does a 15 year old boy do? It's his parent's life, right?
Or so he thinks, before the fateful Social Studies class. He realizes for the first time the importance of rights, and the pursuit of happiness.
Suddenly, his mind is made up.
He's going to sue his parents.
"But old and nes together make a group," continued Mr. Dunfee. "I think you'll find that just by sharing some of your thoughts here, a lot can get accomplished. I think we tend to think sometimes when we get in shaky situations..."
"You're a shaky situation," muttered Haverman.
I really liked this book. When I got it from the free library book sale (or, basically, a ton of withdrawn library books in a parking garage for free), I was basically throwing whatever books into my bag, and just hoping they would be good.
I didn't actually get around to even opening this book until about a week ago, when I was really bored and looking for something to read. I picked up the book, decided, "heck, yeah it's a really fat book.. whatever" and started reading it.
This was also quite a deceptive book.
First of all, my copy is quite thick. probably about an inch and a half, maybe two inches fat. Thick book. I was expecting that it would take a long while to read. Nope! I got about halfway through in about a day. Also, I was thoroughly expecting there to be a party during part of the book.
uh.. no.
I was also expecting the characters to act differently. For example.. Chris was a LOT less... mature... reasonable than I thought he would be. In that way, he was also far more believable. All in all, this was a good book (funny, too.. Haverman rocks!!!) and I'd give it five stars. :)
"It's driving me crazy," said Haverman. "It's on the tip of my mind."
"What peaches?" said Amy.
"The ones without any hair."
"Nectarines."
"Nectarines! Jesus, that's it! I couldn't think of what the hell they were called. You how that can drive you crazy?"
"You drive me crazy!" I said. "My parents are getting a divorce and all you can think of is nectarines? What the hell is wrong with you?"