Karma for Beginners

Tessa is used to being portable. She and her hippie mom have never really had a true home, instead they just wander around, following random guys and crummy jobs. And now they are moving yet again, only this time to an ashram for an "extended retreat". While her mom loves it there, Tessa just thinks all of the people are weird, and she can't help but feel a bit hurt at how everyone seems to overlook her. But then she meets Colin: twenty-years-old, funny, and normal. They connect through their shared love of music and begin to spend more time together. But as time goes by, Tessa finds herself drifting farther away from her mother and taking more and more risks until one day, everything backfires. The concept for Karma for Beginners is really intriguing and entertaining. Tessa's voice is funny, smart, and authentic, but in her narration you can really feel her insecurity and yearning for a normal life, to know her father, and to have a mother who isn't a flake. Tessa's perception of the other people at the ashram is humorous and oftentimes insightful as she learns more and more about the place, and it even takes on a slightly creepy air as its cult-like inner workings are slowly revealed. The romance between Tessa and Colin is sweet, despite their age difference, and will leave you smiling, but about three quarters of the way through the book everything turns sour as drugs are introduced, and many pages are spent on Tessa's meandering thoughts as she is high. The secrets concerning her mother and what really is going on at the ashram are glossed over in the end, leaving you wondering about the details of what all really happened, and the conclusion seems a little too rushed and a little too unrealistic. However, overall Karma for Beginners is an interesting and unconventional novel about one girl's coming-of-age with an engaging and sympathetic narrator that teens can really identify with.

I loved this book from the start. This is a book of abandonment. It's a story that so many girls can identify with: Raised by a single mother with no father in the picture, seeking a father's love, the fear that everyone will abandon you as he did, and a selfish and emotionally-distant mother to boot. Tessa's mother is totally self-absorbed. I know women like this. My best friend's mother was quite a bit like this. Her needs came first instead of that of her children. Tessa is always second-place in her mother's life (or third or fourth). After she and her mother become residents of an isolated cult, Tessa feels more abandoned than ever as her mother thrives in the new community. Tessa turns to an older man for comfort and acceptance. Her new peer group of older men causes her to deal with situations that she is not prepared to deal with. These situations were especially interesting to me, because they sort of start out thrilling and warm and cozy and enlightening, and Tessa thinks how wonderful these experiences are, but then reality sets in. She begins to lose herself and feels her life spiraling out of control. I think that most of us can identify with the feeling of hitting bottom... "Just go home, I tell myself. Just sneak into your bed and close your eyes and crawl between the sheets. Alone and quiet I can piece myself together; the world will slow to steady and I'll find solid ground again." I really liked this story. Warm and gentle, stirring memories of my childhood, with moments of heartbreak, I would recommend this "coming of age" story to anyone. Please be warned that, although this is young adult, there is quite a bit of vulgarity in it, so be wary if this offends you or if you are concerned with exposing your child to foul language and other "adult situations".

Karma for Beginners was completely different from what I expected. From the summary and excerpt on the back cover, it sounds like will focus mostly on the relationship between MC and Collin. However, it seemed to focus more on Tessa's life in the ashram than the relationship, which was a slight let-down because I was looking forward to a good book about dating an older guy. But, once I figured that out, I was able to easily fall into the book. I found it extremely interesting to read about life in the ashram because I'd never heard of it before. It's shocking to think such a lifestyle is acceptable. I did feel it dragged a bit with the descriptions but it was worth it. While the relationship between Tessa and Collin wasn't the biggest part of the book, there was still a lot of it in there. At first, I LOVED it. The age difference was played out nicely and Collin was just a great guy. He was quick to lend a hug and never forced her to do anything. Then something changed and he became a total ass and pretty much just let her go. But then I guess guys are like that. Unfortunately, the ending was quite abrupt. There was a big scene, a little fight, and then it was over. I do like how the story played out but I would've liked to have seen more added to give the ending a realistic quality. So overall - Good book and I do recommend it, there were just some things I didn't like. Also, while the MC is only 14-turning-15, be cautious about who picks this up as there is sex and drug use.

Tessa is tired of always packing up and moving at the whim of her mother, but since she's only 14, she doesn't have much choice. This time around, her single, free-spirited hippie mom takes her to an ashram, where she doesn't have to go to school, but does have to do seva (chores), and doesn't know anyone. While her mom goes on a spiritual journey, Tessa falls for an older guy (he's 20) and starts to sneak off with him when they're done fixing buses. She's tried to reach out to her dad, who's in the hilariously named band Green Tea Experience, but he wants nothing to do with her. As her time with Colin gets more and more intense, she finds herself, paradoxically, more and more alone as she, and soon, her mom, are largely shunned at the ashram...save for the mysterious and, in Blank's prose, decidedly creepy, guru. Blank's first YA novel, Almost Home, featured outstanding characterization and a gripping story. There are less characters here, but they are equally intriguing. Though we don't get to know Tessa's mom quite as well as we get to know her, her motives, her parenting, her idea that her life was cut short by getting pregnant so young, all inform the book. Blank excels at skewering the supposedly pure life on the ashram, from a questionable encounter Tessa has with the guru, to her being told that her outfits are too provocative and are "distracting" the adult men of the ashram. While Tessa is discovering the joy of first love, and exploration, with Colin, she also learns that she can get in over her head. Woven in are some lessons from the ashram that show that Tessa, and Blank, don't entirely discount their spiritual teachings; when Tessa muses that, yes, you can choose to change your feelings, it's a revelation to her, and a revelation, or perhaps, a reminder, to the reader. Blank has once again woven a powerful, gripping story that will appeal to most any teenage girl in a power struggle with her mother, or anyone who's ever been in that position.