Domestic Arrangements

I remember reading this in 8th grade - i loved it so much i photocopied it from the library. The nice thing about this book is that although Tatiana was so different from me or from any of my friends, I could totally identify with what she was feeling - especially her utter confusion in the grown-up world. Though this isn't a suspensenovel, I was surprised every page, by the delicate and unique emotions of the characters - they were astounded by common things and calm during turbulent events - yet you could understand them. The book brought different blends of emotions to the world of teenage literature. Very much reccomended

In reading her two novels "Domestic Arrangements" and "Give Me One Good Reason" I found Klein to be a generally talented writer. She writes in a style that minimizes drama--perhaps even making it seem as if her characters lack an ability to possess deeper emotions. Her characters' lives are not too unusually different from an average Jane Doe's--at least it shouldn't make that much of a difference (which is what I suspect the author is trying to say). Within the context of these slightly unusual situations--a single woman planning a pregnancy which will systematically seclude the bisexual father from the baby's life ("Give me...") and a fourteen year old girl baring it for a movie roll and having sex with her parents' (at least her mom's) blessing ("Domestic...")--Klein tries to portray the reality of her characters. Amidst these complications, her characters are struggling with your more normal problems: falling in love, growing up, coming to terms with your parent's divorce, etc. With Klein's low-key almost nonchalant style of writing, it's not too difficult to relate to the characters or their situations. In her own way, she succeed in delivering the message that strange things happen to normal people-- and unfortunate things, to normal families.