Water Balloon

by Audrey Vernick

Book HardcoverPublication 9/6/2011 320Reading Age 9 and Up

Genres: Middle Grade, Fiction, Young Adult, Romance, Realistic Fiction, Friendship, Summer

312 pages, Hardcover

First published September 6, 2011

About the author

Audrey Vernick is the author of books for young readers.

Forthcoming titles:

When I Redraw the World, illustrated by Heather Fox

Homesick, written with Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Daniel Miyares


www.audreyvernick.com

Reviews

[Kami Kinard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audrey Vernick's beautiful use of figurative language is one of the reasons this book shines for me. I also loved the message. Despite the obstacles of evaporating friendships and fracturing family, we can discover that we're doing just fine.

[Megan Burback · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ½ Stars:

Everything is changing for 13-year-old Marley Baird. Her parents are separated so she has to be shuttled from one house to the other, her two best friends- Jane and Leah- haven’t been around lately and they haven’t been acting the same. On top of that she has to stay the summer at her father’s house while her mother goes and visits friends. At least she has her beloved dog, Rig, with her and she finds her neighbor, Jack, insanely cute and fun to hang out with.

Water Balloon takes the reader on the journey of Marley growing up and figuring out life. It is a journey that most every pre-adolescent and adolescent has gone through at some point. Marley was a great protagonist. She was funny and sweet and relatable. I especially related to her because she was holding so tightly to things, not wanting anything to change; I completely understand that feeling of floundering when things are different. Although most of the characters were well developed, I felt like Jack wasn’t fully fleshed out. I didn’t really understand him and not a lot is revealed about him either.

All in all, it was a good book, the only problem I had with it was the simplicity of it and how “young” it was. I’m nineteen years old and I’m used to reading pretty complex books, so this wasn’t my cup of tea. If you are wondering why I even got it? It’s because I was desperate for a book and it was free (lol). But kids the ages of 10-14 will probably really enjoy this book. It has a fantastic message for kids that are growing up and dealing with some of the things Marley is dealing with in the book.

[nightlyreadingheather · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the product of divorced parents, I could really relate to this character. Marley just wants everything to go back to the way it use to be. Unfortunately, her life is changing and she needs to learn to change with it.

I loved the characters in this book. They were down to earth and very believable. My favorite is Rig, the dog. He put a cute spin on the whole story and really seemed to be Marley’s only real best friend.

I really could identify with Marley. Her friends are changing, which we all know about. (It seems like once you go to junior high, the whole world shifts) Her parent’s separation really has her rattled. Not to mention the fact that she has to spend the whole summer with her Dad in a new house and not even be at home.

She learns a lot about herself in this one summer, makes a few friends and realizes a few things about her old ones. A highly recommended book for a middle grade student about how quickly life can change and how quickly you need to learn to adapt!

[nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

We are finally hosting Audrey Vernick as an author visit and I’m absolutely delighted. I love the way she took Marley from a kid to a teenager, perfectly capturing those awkward early moments as a child of divorce, and presented a friendship breakup that resonated with me at 35 as I think it would have at 12.

[Hoover Public Library Kids and Teens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the absolutely BEST books for 5th-8th grade girls I've ever read. It so perfectly captures the transition from girl to teen, and all the confusion and heartache that comes with it. Warning: there is one (I repeat, just one!) curse word, but it fits the main character's emotions. So don't let it keep you from reading!

[Paul Acampora]

This is a gentle, brave, honest and lovely book that does not rush. I really appreciated that. I can't wait to put this into kids' hands.

[Kerry W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantabulous

[Bailey Adamczyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

OH MY GOD that book was SO So so SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO So Good!
I was so Shocked that Jane got so mad at Marley , just because of a water balloon blitz. Who even gets so mad at there best friend and wont even talk to her. Leah even got mad. Marley only did it to win the title of bravery. And courage. Maybe Marley should have done it at her dads house and they all would be friends again. Or not her dad might be like "Marley Eden Baird you are grounded for a MONTH. I hate messes." Okay maybe not a month maybe not at all.

One of my favorite parts was with the Yankees Woot Woot !! and the baseball game. Jack seems so nice to Marley and the twins she is babysitting.Grace and Faith. They are so CRAZY! they turn out pretty well behaved for the most part.
Faith and Grace were funny when they said are you Marley's brother and Jack mouthed to Marley did you tell them that I was your brother and Marley is like no I did not

I JUST LOVE THE BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jane should be friends with Marley still because Marley is a good friend.

[Kris Dersch · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is monumentally difficult to write a fairly simple storyline and make it sing. And that's what Audrey Vernick does here. From the get go, Marley is so 100% relatable. Who hasn't had to choose between not great friends and being alone? Who hasn't struggled with figuring out when things have ended and then figured it out maybe a bit too late? I read somewhere that to make a character compelling you put them where they don't want to be and that's Marley to a T.
I love the tiny details here. The Monopoly game. The way she appreciates dandelions. The personality of the dog.
I felt like there was a tad too much romance for my taste in middle grade. Not that it was inappropriate or in any way wrong...I just felt like there was a bit too much space given to it. The cute boy next door is always an interesting angle but I wanted more of their friendship and less of her wondering if she was on a date.
On the whole, a really wonderful book.

[Krista Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book defined a large part of my tween-hood. I remember borrowing it off the recommendation of my 6th grade English teacher and not only thoroughly enjoying it, but using it as a guiding tool in understanding and coming to terms with my quickly changing life, my familial situation, and how at that point in my life it is natural for friends to grow apart as we all navigate coming into a new part of our lives. It made me realize that as many new emotions I may have and as impossible as life sometimes felt at such a young age- that I’m doing just fine. That I am allowed to feel my big feelings. That it’s okay for friends to grow apart. That my family’s dysfunction is to no fault of my own. That it’s okay my life changed in such drastic ways that I could not fully comprehend just yet. I’m now 22 and still constantly think about this book.

[Sarada Choudary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is great for a young reader who is into stories about middle school kids. It deals with issues of divorce, friend groups changing, young romance, and little dramas. Very fluffy compared to what I personally enjoy but I was reading this with a kid I tutor and she really engaged with it because of those themes. So for me, I’m rating it a 3.5/5 - but I’m confident my tutee (an 11 year old girl) would have given it a 5/5. And that’s really the audience this book was written for. (Or a child experiencing their parents separating/divorcing - I can see how reading about the experience of someone else could be helpful)

[Bailey V · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book about friendship and family. Marley the main character went to live with her dad on the summer. She was unhappy because she barley got to see her friends. And her parents got separated so her friends think that she is depressed and no fun anymore. She is forced to babysit twins and nothing is gong her way this summer. In the end she figures out that their is more than what she wants and other people matter too. She makes new friends and she makes money by babysitting for the kids. She ends up with an okay summer.

[Maizie Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing I really like it because it's funny and exiting like when she gets back together with her friends and when she has a water balloon fight. I learned from this story that it's ok to bring out your iner child and have some fun. one charecter I didn't like is the teacher he's mean and strict. This book was very exiting and I think that Addison would really like this book cause I know she likes books that are funny but have a good lesson.

[Anya Zhang · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know how I feel about this book. I mean, the book is sweet and pretty cute, but some of the characters want to make me tear my hair out. To be completely honest, I thought Marley was annoying and rude, and Leah and Jane made me want to sucker punch them in the nose. I really wish that Marley just flat up told Leah at the end that she thinks Leah is a horrible person, that is how much I hate Leah and Jane. The parts about Jack were pretty cute though. Overall, it was a great read!

[freddie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the book in 6th grade and i just found it again so i figured i would rate it! its pretty boring. essentially, you'd miss nothing skipping through most of the paragraphs, because it is incredibly slow, and there is little to no character development for most of the characters. the reason im rating this a 2 star is because at the time, i could relate to Marley, and i still sort of do.

[~just one hopeless romantic~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! I love how Marley can be nice but sassy. I didn’t like how much bad words were in it and I also didn’t like all the drama. I think’ this book teaches a valuable lesson that life isn’t fair, and life changes over time. Your parents might separate or your best friends will turn on you. Like I said, I loved 🥰 this book.

[Farrah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was honestly one of the most boring books I’ve ever read. Sometimes books are boring at the start or boring at the end or the middle but this book was extremely boring the whole time. The whole book was just flat out boring.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very well written and so touching. It shows a perspective I haven’t seen before (as I don’t have divorced parents and have never moved houses), but at the same time is relatable to me. This book is heartfelt and a very good read.

[Ellie M · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most accurate books about being a teenager I've ever read. Especially the part about having to watch your friend flirt with your crush. Hoooooo boy do I relate to that.

[Akow]

I picked it up because it seems summery, it seems kinda basic, but we'll see I guess

[Sydney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Water Balloon by Audrey Vernick Book Review


The book Water Balloon by Audrey Vernick is a realistic fiction story about a girl named Marley Baird and her changed upside down life. Marley is a good person. She had a good life, two loving parents, two best friends, what could go wrong? Marley’s life changed so fast she did’nt even have a second to breathe. Her parents separated and her friends hated her, how could good change to bad so fast?

Marley Baird was living her perfect life thinking only happy thoughts until disaster struck. Marley’s life changed from perfect to living in a shark tank in a matter of seconds. Marley could not figure out what she did wrong, all she did to Jane (one of her best friends) was a “harmless prank” at her party. Things brighten up a little when a boy named Jack entered the picture, but of course there was drama with him too. Things slowly get better over time with the help of Marley’s dog Rig and Jack. It was difficult with the drama with her parents and friends but slowly but surely things got better.

The book Water Balloon by Audrey Vernick was an okay book in my opinion. The introduction was a little confusing- “The blitzing began five years ago…” what is blitzing and how old are you? It sort of kept the reader thinking but I think that there could of been a better introduction. It also annoyed me how dramatic things can get in this book, silly petty problems that have no meaning in life, if I wanted to listen to that I would’ve asked one of my “many” dramatic friends. Sometimes you could not really get what the plot was about. Overall this book was okay, ot may not be my best recommendation but if you like this kind of stuff I will recommend it. For my rating I give this book 3 ½ out of five stars.

[Leah Balerna · Rating 1 out of 5]

the main character made me mad. also took young of a book if u was 12 it def would of been better lol.

[Amy Yuki Vickers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for my 2017 reading challenge category: "author that has your initials." This category was surprisingly difficult to fulfill. It was easier finding an author that has the exact same last name as me than it was to find one with my initials. I'm so glad that I found Audrey Vernick's book in my library because I did not want to read my back-up pick.

If I had read this when I was 13, I would have loved it. I'm far off from 13 now, so I found the characters a little flat (not cardboard, but not fully-formed, either). I thought the plot was realistic. It was so realistic that it was borderline mundane, but in the end, I was pleasantly surprised. Even low-key stories can be satisfying. I ended up feeling pretty connected to the protagonist and liking her a lot.

[Stephanie A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not me weeping my way through this cute children's book... there is so much painfully relatable content about friends moving on because you aren't growing up fast enough for them, i.e. you still enjoy water balloon fights and playing Monopoly with silly rule additions the way you did in 2nd grade, even though you're going into 8th. In a surprising turn of events, this one also includes a lesson about growing past your hurt feelings and ending the friendship on your own terms when you realize it's become toxic, which I found very impressive.

Unfortunately, the background of divorcing parents was exactly as painful as I was afraid of, and since we never get solid clarification on why they're splitting up, I remained very unclear and also petulant about why it would have been A Terrible Fate to spend 4-5 more years committed to being celibate, platonic roommates. Her dad's "this is the economic reality of maintaining two households on the same income" line, which apparently means not being able to afford home internet in 2011, particularly got on my nerves. Sounds like the real economic reality is you can't afford to divorce, so sucks for you/your wife/whoever suggested the split, but you're just gonna have to keep living together until Marley leaves for college or your income doubles.

This anger is all a cover-up for the fact that honestly, if I'm Marley in this situation -- parents divorcing, never again going to have a single stable home where all my stuff is, and my lifelong/only friends hate and/or are bored with me (there's a cute boy who seems to like me, but it's not like we're gonna get married and he'll probably start liking a prettier girl when school starts anyway), OH and I can't even enjoy summer on my own because I've been pressed into babysitting service 5 days a week -- I am now (trigger warning ahead) suicidal. Life looks hopeless at this point, so I don't want to "get through it," I want to get out (source: younger than her at first suicidal thought, over way less distressing stuff).

Obviously this never happens in the book because its target audience is definitely under 13, but I couldn't imagine that it wasn't happening off the page, which accounted for most of the weeping I mentioned in my opening statement.

So tl;dr, I was not left with warm and fuzzy feelings after this one. I still adore the summery cover, though (even if the girl looks more like she's 10), which is in fact the entire reason I read this.

The only way the cover could have been better, now that I think about it, would have been the inclusion of a dog. I adored Marley as a character and felt very protective of her, but her dog Rig was definitely the highlight of the book. I guess I should commend her parents for agreeing to share custody of him as well, because being forced to leave my dog behind during multi-night stays with the other parent? Child abuse, imo.

Continuing to waver between 3 and 4 stars, depending on my ratio of anger at the adults to "I'm impressed by a book that can make me internalize a main character hard enough to cry that much" at any given moment.

[Sam]

i skimmed through this because it’s been sitting on my shelf for like 10 years and i never read it. seemed like a cute book that i would’ve enjoyed and related to a lot more if i read it when i was in junior high.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Thirteen-year Marley doesn’t like the fact that her life is changing. Her parents have separated and her two best friends are branching out into the world without her. It’s the summer of all these changes and she is living with her father alone for the first time and things aren’t going as she had planned. Lazy afternoons, hanging out with Jane and Leah playing Monopoly waiting for next unexpected balloon blitz have now evolved into babysitting twin five-year olds while her best friends attend Curtain Call . Trying to resurrect the summer, Marley hopes her best balloon blitz plans will be sensation but when things do not turn out as planned, Marley confines in Jack. Jack is not exactly who she planned on hanging out with this summer but sometimes not everything goes as planned. It’s a coming of age story, a time to open your eyes a little wider to world around you and for Marley, she afraid of what she might see.

The story had good bones, it’s just that I didn’t feel emotional towards any of the characters. The characters came and went, their story was told and I listened but I just didn’t connect. The story was all too familiar as children mature and change, parents separate, life becomes too serious and people come into our lives mysteriously. Some people can handle change better than others, some people can read others better than some and some people can embrace everyone no matter who they are, it’s just the way some individuals are. I thought Jack was an interesting character. I don’t get to know him every well but what I did read about him, he’s a keeper. He’s open, he’s flexible and he’s human. Leah visits to Jack had me wondering about him but heck, he’s only human. It’s not like Marley was giving him any clues on her feeling towards him, we read how she felt him but she didn’t act upon them. I guess, you snooze, you just might lose Marley.

[Adrienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I think Marley's struggles are realistic--and things readers can relate to--I also think it's lacking in character development, development of the setting, and realistic language. Of course Marley is going to be on an emotional roller coaster; any 13-year-old would be, even without all the stuff going on in her life. But she also felt bratty and immature (okay, okay, realistic, but the book didn't quite show the progression that would make me really care about this book). There was absolutely no sense of place; I know it was near New York City because Marley goes to a Yankees game, but there's no sense of whether her neighborhood is large or small, suburban or rural, etc. I'm not a setting-driven reader, but even for me, it was weird not having the book more grounded in a location.
One of the things that got really irritating about the book was the language: "OH! My God!" Really? With an exclamation mark and a huge pause in the middle of the sentence? Also, the 5-year-olds Marley baby-sits for apparently are incapable of saying "Can we" and have to say "Kwee" instead. I think most 5-year-olds speak more clearly than that. The writing just didn't flow that well, either. Again, yes, we're on an emotional roller coaster with Marley, but the writing shouldn't be a roller coaster.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the book “Water Balloon” by Audrey Vernick, a girl named Marley has just had a shocking turn on her life. A few months ago Marley’s parents decided to split apart due to them not getting along as well as they used to. Over the summer Marley is forced to go stay with her dad in a brand new house, a brand new location, and a brand new life. While she is there her dad gets her a job to baby sit for a family every day of the week. Due to the extra curricular activities that her best friends due without her, the are pulling farther and farther away from Marley. Then she realizes that her dog Rig is really only her true friend that never leaves her side. While she is on her way to walk Rig, she runs into a boy that lives just down the street, she meets with him and realizes that they have a pretty great bond. Throughout the summer Marley realizes that it’s best not to risk taking any chances with the boy down the street, the boy gets mad and the never talk again. Marley goes through steps of her life over the summer that effect her gratefully, read the book to find out more. In my opinion, I think that this book is a bit boring, I don’t really like that the book doesn’t have a big twist. It was really hard for me to get into and get out of the book. It was really confusing, so I recommend this book to someone who doesn’t like complicated books and likes it on the easy side.

[Sydney Wirebaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Report by Sydney Wirebaugh
I thought this book was okay. It didn’t really talk about anything but love and divorce. The main character, Marley, goes to live with her dad. At the beginning she thinks it is going to be a terrible summer. At the end her thoughts have changed a little but not enough to make it a wonderful summer.
My favorite character is Jack. He has an attitude of happy go lucky. He just goes with the flow. He really doesn’t care if it rains all day. He isn’t going to waste it. The Yankees are his favorite team and Marley lies and says that she loves them and that she listens to them every time they play. Jack invites her to go to a game one day and she actually enjoys it. Jack has a very fun attitude! I hope I have that attitude sometimes!
My least favorite characters are Leah and Jane. They are mean and back-stab Marley. Marley just tries to have some fun and they make a huge deal out of it! I have to admit though that Marley shouldn’t have done what she did. At the end they both get boyfriends and make Marley’s life even more terrible.
I would probably read more books by this author. This book wasn’t the best book but it was okay.

[Abbey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Water Balloon, By: Audrey Vernick, Is a perfect book for realistic fiction lovers! Marley Baird is a 13 year old teenage girl, living with divorced parents. She is forced to spend all summer at her dad's house. She would hate it, or at least that's what she thought. From meeting her new neighbor Jack, who was a total Yankees fan, to the job she was given unexpectedly: Babysitting crazy twins, Marley is a stotal paz [you'd have to read the book to understand that].
But, Marley finds herself stuck in a friendship issue. Leah and Jane have been Marley's best friends since, well, FOREVER. But when they join curtain call, she's left alone. What would happen next? Marley and her old friends used to play Monopoly all the time, and do water balloon blitz, a game of surprise water-ballooning. Marley is stuck in this situation all summer. But one thing has changed, and that one thing is about Jack. Marley is lost in thought, but she finds her way.
I really enjoyed this book, it was something I can totally relate to. That's why I love realistic fiction so much. You can feel what the characters do.*