What is this one about? If you ask the author's website here is your answer:
More than anything, Weezie wants to please her momma. She babysits her spoiled half-sister, Ruth Ann, and little Jackson. She makes tea for Momma in Gramma Emmeline's beautiful teapot. She even tries to cook dinner. But nothing turns out quite right. Momma is never pleased. |
The Missing Pieces of Me made me uncomfortable, but I'm not sure that was the author's intention. I'm all right with a character thinking her mother hates her, but this character never finds out differently. Her mother doesn't change her point of view considering her daughter, and her daughter doesn't ever discover that she was misreading her mother.
When a grown man, Weezie's brother's estranged dad, drives off with Weezie on the back of his motorcycle, Weezie's mother is right to call the police. Why this man, who otherwise seems to be in the middle of becoming a more responsible father, puts her in this kind of situation is inconsistent with his developing character.
Additionally, there's a teenage pregnancy here with no talk about it being an issue. In fact, it's just accepted as a normal thing that happens. While it does occur more often than I'd like to admit, that's not the message I want my daughter picking up when she's twelve.
Why is Weezie's mother is constantly angry? It's obvious she has made her bed. She clearly has a record of making bad choices in her life, but she takes out her anger on everybody else. She doesn't like her daughter's friend Calvin, pushing her instead to another classmate in the neighborhood. When Weezie gets close to her new friend, her mother resents the new girl. She never has anything positive to say about anything, and she clearly likes Weezie's siblings more than Weezie.
Is the book about the anger of a parent? Is it about a girl finding her missing father? Is it about the dangers of talking to strangers? Is it about a stray cat? A dead grandmother? A kind neighbor? Lying to show up a bully? At any rate, not a single one of these themes is brought to a close. In the end, Weezie's mother still does not like her, Weezie still doesn't have any direction in her life, her grandmother is still dead, her father remains absent, the bully is still there, her original friend remains distracted, and the cat is still feral.