Horn Book Review
Paddy is thrown when a blood test reveals that his idle, no-good stepfather is actually his biological dad. Who, then, is the hard-working man that raised him and has been paying child support all these years? And can a life-threatening accident help everyone come to terms with the past? Questions of nature versus nurture are superficially explored in this melodramatic problem novel. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Except for having to deal with his stepfather, Anthony, 18-year-old Paddy considers life OK. That is, until Paddy lashes out at Anthony's harping about college and declares that he is joining the army. Now everyone is upset with him, and Paddy realizes he really didn't mean what he said. Nevertheless, he honors his mother's request and gets a full physical before going to the recruiter and learns a surprise: he has B-negative blood which is not the blood type of his parents. This fast-paced story an entry in the Orca Soundings series for reluctant readers takes us on a roller-coaster ride of a mixed-up family as Paddy processes new information and deals with new relationships. The crux of the story is a fascinating paternity case, though the rather abrupt and perhaps unrealistically happy ending might leave readers questioning the book's plausibility. Two of Grant's other Orca Soundings books, I.D. (2007) and Comeback (2010), also feature teens' family issues.--Petty, J. B. Copyright 2010 Booklist