The Other Half of Me

by Emily Franklin

JENNY FITZGERALD HAS been outside the huddle, trying to fit in to her sports-obsessed family. The only time she knows the score is when she's holding an egg-carton palette and painting on a canvas, but even then she feels as though something is missing.

Unlike her three younger siblings, Jenny knows her biological father only as Donor #142.

As Jenny's 16th summer draws to a close, she feels more alienated than ever. But then a chance meeting with gorgeous über-jock Tate leads Jenny to reach out to someone else who might know exactly how she feels. With Tate by her side, Jenny searches for a genetic relative in the Donor Sibling Registry and discovers that she has a half sister, Alexa. Jenny hopes their budding relationship will fill the gaps in her life, but when Alexa shows up on her doorstep for a surprise visit, the changes in Jenny's world are much bigger than she could ever have imagined.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Young Adult Contemporary, Chick Lit, Romance, Art, Family

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 11, 2007

About the author

Growing up, Emily Franklin wanted to be “a singing, tap-dancing doctor who writes books.”

Having learned early on that she has little to no dancing ability, she left the tap world behind, studied at Oxford University, and received an undergraduate degree concentrating in writing and neuroscience from Sarah Lawrence College. Though she gave serious thought to a career in medicine, eventually that career followed her dancing dreams.

After extensive travel, some “character-building” relationships, and a stint as a chef, Emily went back to school at Dartmouth where she skied (or fished, depending on the season) daily, wrote a few screenplays, and earned her Master’s Degree in writing and media studies.

While editing medical texts and dreaming about writing a novel, Emily went to Martha’s Vineyard on a whim and met her future husband who is, of course, a doctor. And a pianist. He plays. They sing. They get married. He finishes medical school, they have a child, she writes a novel. Emily’s dreams are realized. She writes books.

Emily Franklin is the author of two adult novels, The Girls' Almanac and Liner Notes and more than a dozen books for young adults including the critically-acclaimed seven book fiction series for teens, The Principles of Love. Other young adult books include The Other Half of Me the Chalet Girls series, and At Face Value, a retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac (coming in September 2008).

She edited the anthologies It's a Wonderful Lie: 26 Truths about Life in Your Twenties and How to Spell Chanukah: 18 Writers Celebrate 8 Nights of Lights. She is co-editor of Before: Short Stories about Pregnancy from Our Top Writers.

Her book of essays and recipes, Too Many Cooks: Kitchen Adventures with 1 Mom, 4 Kids, 102 New Recipes ~ A Memoir of Tasting, Testing, and Discovery in the Kitchen will be published by Hyperion.

Emily’s work has appeared in The Boston Globe and the Mississippi Review as well as in many anthologies including Don't You Forget About Me: Contemporary Writers on the Films of John Hughes, When I Was a Loser: True Stories of (Barely) Surviving High School by Today's Top Writers, and Because I Love Her: 34 Women Writers on the Mother-Daughter Bond. Emily writes regularly about food and parenting for national magazines and newspapers. She travels, teaches writing seminars, and speaks on panels, but does not tap dance. Emily Franklin lives outside of Boston with her husband and their four young children.

Reviews

[Lacey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read Emily Franklin's Liner Notes a couple years ago and absolutely fell in love with it and it's beautiful words. I didn't expect anything less with The Other Half of Me. It was wonderfully written and a truly engaging story, if not a tad bit predictable. But, hey, what's wrong with predictable. I loved Jenny, the main character. And swooned for her relationship with Tate (everyone wants a sensitive, fun-loving guy, right?) It was an interesting change of pace when you added in the character of Alexa, Jenny's half sister. There were times when I was reading along and physically hated the way that Alexa treated Jenny and their situation. It was annoying to hate a character, but I guess that inevitable. Overall, I really loved the story. This is the last of five YA books in a row and tomorrow I'm going to start a big-girl book, thank you! I love teen angst as much as the next person (who am I kidding, I don't really love it. I loathed being 16 when I was 16). But thist was a great ending. I could picture everything as it went along and I think it would make a great movie. I'm also wishing for a follow-up, but I'm not sure that will happen.

[Cassidy · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book was fairly good. I felt this book took a while to get on its feet. I was confused at first because I thought that when the main charcter went on the donor website she was going to find her real dad. but she actually found a half sister. I think it was very predicable and I was hoping the ending would be better. but I think it was a good book because so many people that are adopted could possibly relate to this book (not me, but others). I would recommend this book.

[Christine Zarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

"That's what the best part of life is, those days or minutes you can't ever frame or paint beforehand."

Copied from my LJ blog:
Jenny Fitzgerald feels like she doesn’t belong to her family. Why? Simply because in her family, she is the only child inclined to arts while all her siblings and parents are sport-minded, are able to easily coordinate each body part, and aren’t as clumsy. Due to the intensifying feeling of disconnectedness that she feels, Jenny decided to look for any relatives she might have from her biological father whom she knew as Donor #142 through the Donor Sibling Registry with the help of her epic crush Tate.

Jenny’s first meeting with her half-sister Alexa was full of hopes that she would find pieces that she feels were missing, and that she’ll finally have a relationship with Alexa similar with that of her younger twin sisters. However, Alexa’s surprise visit lead Jenny to deal both with her jealousy from her family and with her jealousy of Alexa. Instead of feeling complete and full, Jenny saw just how different she was from Alexa, and this makes her feel more different and more alienated than ever.

Alexa chimes in and takes all the attention, especially of Tate, farther away from Jenny. This creates a misunderstanding between the two as well as between Jenny and Tate. Unfortunately, this tension was easily and simply solved at the end.

Being able to paint has always been one of my dreams. And I think this is what I liked about this book. Aside from this, it was able to catch my attention since I talks about people conceived through sperm donation, and finding other people blood-related to them through Donor Sibling Registry. The Other Half of Me is great for learning about identity, and searching for that. One of the things that the book was able to instill in my mind was that if you look for similarities, you’ll find it and if you look for differences, you’ll find it as well.

However, there were also some downs to the book. I find the misunderstanding between the two siblings related through Donor 142 somehow feeble and weak. It was silly that Alexa and Tate were still whispering when they both know Jenny was out of house. The book was predictable. Also, most of the characters are underdeveloped, making them boring.I’d like to learn of the reasons for the Tate’s liking of Jenny. I'd like to see how Jenny's family see Alexa before and after the surprise visit.

All in all, it can be seen that the book plays it safe and that albeit it tackles something new, there are still rooms for improvement. But still, it's a fun read. :)

[Fifi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, I found this book to be confusing. Jenny's personality was hard to follow, as there are no words to sum up her entire character. I was annoyed by how she treated her family for most of the book, and I felt the author needed some work in portraying theme. What I absorbed was that the underlying theme ran along the lines of change can happen if you are willing see it happen. If you close your eyes and ignore efforts to change, change will not occur. It's a great message, don't get me wrong, yet I felt if Jenny's character was worked on, the theme would be highlighted a bit more. Additionally, the romance between Tate and Jenny needed a bit of work. It felt way to rushed to me because I barely knew Tate's character, and left the novel with his character still unclear. I didn't prefer how the author left things relationship-wise between not only Tate and Jenny, but also much of the rest of Jenny's family. The author overemphasized the difference between sports and the arts in the wrong way. It was conveyed in the novel that sports and the arts and differences in general divide a family. However, in the novel, the rest of the Fitzgerald family was different from Jenny Fitzgerald, however they still treated her kindly. Jenny was too oblivious to see it and felt she wasn't a part of the family for her differences. How I feel, though, is that family is family, and they love you- all parts of you, including your differences. You love family no matter how different you all may be from each other. The plot was also lacking, and there was no suspense. Yup, so it was an okay read, which is why I reviewed it only 2 stars.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Other Half of Me offers a new twist on the familiar theme of searching for identity. After years of feeling like she doesn’t fit in with her athletically-inclined family, 16-year old Jenny decides to search the Donor Sibling Registry for any other siblings she may have, courtesy of donor #142, her biological father. Jenny is certain that finding a half-sister or brother will erase her feeling of emptiness. Predictably, her union with newly discovered sister Alexa is not the idealized one she had in mind, as the two learn that they have more differences than similarities. In the end, Jenny realizes that the family she’s grown up with isn’t so bad after all. Comforting in its predictability, this book is a safe choice for readers looking for an easy read with a positive message – be confident in who you are. However, despite Jenny’s complaints, her life is pretty okay, given her upper-middle class status, supportive family, burgeoning career as an artist, and new, popular boyfriend -- so some readers will not sympathize with her plight.

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed by Jennifer Rummel for TeensReadToo.com

Jenny's a painter in a family full of sports lovers. She can't catch a ball to save her life. Is it any wonder she feels like an outsider in her own family?

While she has always known that she's the product of a sperm donor, it never really made much difference until she reads an article about tracking down relations. Now she can't let go of the idea.

Could there be a sibling out there, just like her? Is Jenny brave enough to meet her half-sister once she finds her?

Finally, Jenny believes she's found the part of her that's been missing for years.

Emily Franklin's written another notable drama full of high angst where the main character struggles to find her identity.

[Susan Dunn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one sounds really interesting. Here's the blurb from our catalog: "Feeling out of place in her athletic family, artistic sixteen-year-old Jenny Fitzgerald, whose biological father was a sperm donor, finds her half sister through the Sibling Donor Registry and contacts her, hoping that this will finally make her feel complete".

Unfortunately the book didn't live up to it's promise. It was just OK. The bio sister comes to visit and everyone likes her better than Jenny, so Jenny gets all uptight. She even thinks that her sister is trying to steal her boyfriend. Jenny is too wimpy and insecure to be interesting.

[Ying · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a pretty good book because there were really times where you could actually feel emotional, especially the climax of the story. I also liked how they tied art into the story but there were some parts I didn't like. For one, the Jenny's romance was too sudden and it seemed like it didn't really fit. I also didn't like the ending and Alexa's character a lot. But in spite of these, I still liked this book a lot and feel it will make a good read.

[Leira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having gone through a similar experience as the main character, I identified a lot with the first half of the book. However, during the second half, she became unpleasant. That might've been because the book is predictable and the readers can figure out what's going on while the main character is oblivious. At some point I just wanted to finish the book. The ending was almost exactly as I predicted. It's not a bad book but it isn't a great one either.

[Sophie D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was a topic id really never seen before in YA. I liked the idea and the characters were all well thought out and planned. The only let down was the main character I feel like she was unable to talk to anyone and face her problems. Overall though I really enjoyed this book!

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is wish-fulfillment comfort food reading. Jenny gets everything she ever wanted at the price of a little angst and soul-searching.

[Monique · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think that the plot was a great idea but the way this book was written was not. I would love to read a book with this plot, but "The Other Half of Me" was not my book.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I remember Emily Franklin’s debut series, The Principles of Love, not entirely astounding me with its slow pace in the development of her love interests and overall story, I quite liked the tone of her pieces. This one didn’t disappoint—and her writing has gotten better (from what I can remember, anyway), so I’m really surprised and delighted.

Jenny Fitzgerald comes from an all around athletic family. Her parents are interested in yard work and running, her sisters Sierra and Sage are dancers, and Russ is ready to become a football player like Jenny’s two year long crush, Tate. The different one in the family, Jenny’s more artistic and far from being athletic. But that’s not the only thing separating her from her family—her biological father is actually Donor #142, so her siblings are only her half siblings. Jenny feels like her family will never understand her that way and she longs to have a relationship like the twins Sierra and Sage do. Jenny finally gets that chance when Tate shows her something amazing: an online organization called Donor Sibling Registry, in which she can sign up and see if Donor #142 has donated other sperm and whether she has other half siblings. Much to her surprise and delightment, she finds Alexa, her half sister. Alexa is impulsive and different, but Jenny feels like she can say and share anything with Alexa. When the latter makes a visit to Jenny’s home, things take a definitive turn and Jenny’s not sure how to deal.

First of all, love the donor storyline! I always hear about women getting pregnant and having a kid this way, but I’ve never come across a story where it’s told from his/her perspective. It’s a great family book: what it means to be a family and how to become one. Exploring family and couple relationship dynamics are so hard, especially the former, and I really think Emily Franklin has created a novel that captures the astonishing truth about family members. You always see them in one perspective—they’re either really strict/mean or super nice and friendly and they always change in the end. But books hardly ever dwell in those moments of changing, so it’s always hard for me to root for a good family relationship like that, but this is different. It’s truthful and it’s touching—but most importantly, I actually see that progress!

Second of all, it’s also a good finding your identity book—I mean, you can really learn a lot from Jenny. She’s an amazing character—her flaws and insecurities really bring out the main points of the story. Even if you’re not a painter or athlete, you can relate to a girl who’s trying to get her family to love her more, who’s trying to fit in, and who’s trying to find love. Her mishaps and encounter with Tate in the very beginning is amusing—and the part where he defends her when his friend’s about to make a crude remark about her chest had me gushing. I love encounters like that. It always turns the male protagonist into a suave and kind hearted soul, yet mysterious at the same time. I hate perfect meetings, which I think are hard to come by. Most of the time, you’re bound to be making a fool of yourself, one way or another, so why not make it realistic, right? That’s why I tend to really dislike the I’m-in-love-with-my-best-friend storyline because it’s so predictable. And while some parts of this book are too predictable (like when Jenny suspects that Tate and Alexa are actually having a “thing” behind her back and it turns out that they’re just planning a surprise party for her) for me, I’m not too bored by it.

What’s more satisfying is the tone and mood of this story. It actually makes you think. You can clearly see that the words are chosen very carefully and they’re like the pieces of the puzzle that you’re supposed to fit together. I love the transitions and the smooth writing because it is definitely not amateurish. Franklin’s got a semi-distinctive voice—she’s just got to nab it in the right spot and create her one-of-a-kind, like Sarah Dessen has. Whenever I read something by her, I just know she wrote it because it’s her genre and it’s her words that are reaching out to me. Emily Franklin is definitely close to getting there.

However, there are still things to work on to make this an even better novel. There are loopholes and loose tidbits of information that either needs to be cleared up or added.

1) Tate’s parents. There’s the briefest mention of them when he invites Jenny to his home and they talk about his parents, but all Jenny says is that he gets a faraway look when that happens. I kept waiting for Tate to finally reveal his relationship with his parents to dampen his Perfect Boy image, or for Jenny to ask—really, shouldn’t she be interested in her boyfriend’s parents?—but they never get mentioned again for the remainder of the book. The writer could have delved into Tate’s past as well to create more diverse family backgrounds to strengthen her overall message.

2) The character of Faye. Considering she’s actually Jenny’s best friend, she should have been mentioned more. It shouldn’t matter that Faye’s off to Chef Camp for the summer—she still plays an semi part in Jenny’s life when she becomes too overwhelmed with her family, Alexa, and Tate, and finally reveals the whole ordeal to another friend. Jenny never talks about how she met Faye—or how she started liking Tate, for that matter. And I do think it’s essential to get that background information out of the way first in the very beginning.

3) The big confrontation scene between Tate and Jenny that never happens. Tate’s short and interrupted explanation—the one he gives her at the art gallery—isn’t enough to satisfy me. After that, they just magically get together again. I was waiting for Tate to explain more about how they came up with the surprise party and how they went through with it, but I was disappointed. No mention of anything like that—just that Jenny was glad they were back together and the usual optimistic thoughts that closely sets up the remaining paragraphs of the last page. It’s not terribly unexpected—a lot of authors skip right to the end when the end needs more time to be digested and straightened out—but I really hate rushed endings. And I want that confrontation turned sweet scene!

[Caitlynn Comstock · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book that I enjoyed <3

[Shay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book. I really liked the end, it a realistic fiction book. If your looking for some romance but not a lot and a realistic story this is the book for you.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found an old ARC of this on my bookshelf a couple weeks ago and decided to finally read it. I was pleasantly surprised! I've been yearning for realism in my novels lately and this one of one The Other Half of Me's strongest points.

Jenny and Alexa were wonderful characters to play opposite each other. Jenny, the self-concious forgotten sister vs Alexa, the outgoing loved only child. I appreciated how Alexa filled a void and was able to see missed moments in Jenny's family life that Jenny had neglected to see. If Jenny had visited Alexa instead I'm sure the same would've happened.

Jenny and Tate's romance was particuarily realistic. Since the novel was told on a day-by-day basis with no missed time we were able to see their relationship play out over the first few days, a plot point many authors choose to skip over. I also liked how their romance wasn't full of declarations or angst, just simply two people who liked each other over summer holidays.

A few years ago I read a novel about donor siblings but I forget most of the details, so I'll consider this my first plunge into the topic. What an awesome story idea! Identity crisis is a common theme in YA literature but pairing it with sperm donation and the "unknown other family" takes it to a whole new level. It seemed so appropriate for Jenny to not really acknowledge it publically that much until Tate coaxes it out of her. The family reactions to Alexa were especially heart wrenching as I totally sympathized with Jenny's father when he felt out of place and "not enough" for his daughter.

There were a few things I didn't like though. The ending seemed to come together too perfectly and sentimentally for my taste. I would've liked a bit more angst or sadness, something to counter all the happiness throughout the novel. I also would've liked a stronger comparison between athleticism and arts, not only during Jenny's identity crisis and Jenny v.s. Alexa, but as a social commentary for how teens today are judged depending on which they choose to pursue.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jenny is a teenager with some typical teenage problems.

She is struggling to fit in with her athletic family. She wants them to be more supportive of her interests. She is jealous of her twin sisters’ close relationship and also feels that nobody understands her. In her family of 6, she feels lonely.

Jenny loves to paint. The big art show is coming up and she wants to paint something good enough to get into the show.

She has a crush on Tate, and now he seems to like her too.

Jenny also has some problems that are far from typical. Her dad was an anonymous sperm donor. Her siblings all share the same biological father but she does not. She checks an online database and discovers that she has a half-sister named Alexa. When Alexa shows up at her house for an extended visit, she gets to know her new sister and learns a lot about herself and her family.

This was an enjoyable book. You feel for Jenny and her struggle to express herself with her painting and to deal with her insecurity.

[Polly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The other half of me remind me of a book I read quite a long time ago named My So-Called Family by Courtney Sheinmel. Both of this book starts out with the protagonist realize their biological father is a sperm donor. They feel left out and there’s always a wall that connects them to their family and half siblings. After that, the 2 protagonists from the two books started their search of their father online and predictably they found out they have more siblings out there. However, The Other Half of Me takes a further step then My So-Called Family when Jenny Fitzgerald‘s her half sister Alexa has a surprise visit. Jenny thought she can find her missing feeling from meeting Alexa but instead she found jealousy in Alexa’s open personality. Hayley thought that Alexa and her crush Tate have betrayed her. When everything was very tense, things start to evaporate. Hayley later realize Alexa and Tate were planning a surprise for her birthday. Overall I think the theme is family isn’t between blood connection but between the ones that care and there to help you.

[Lesi H · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Other Half of Me offers a new twist on the familiar theme of searching for identity. After years of feeling like she doesn’t fit in with her athletically-inclined family, 16-year old Jenny decides to search the Donor Sibling Registry for any other siblings she may have, courtesy of donor #142, her biological father. Jenny is certain that finding a half-sister or brother will erase her feeling of emptiness. Predictably, her union with newly discovered sister Alexa is not the idealized one she had in mind, as the two learn that they have more differences than similarities. In the end, Jenny realizes that the family she’s grown up with isn’t so bad after all. Comforting in its predictability, this book is a safe choice for readers looking for an easy read with a positive message – be confident in who you are. However, despite Jenny’s complaints, her life is pretty okay, given her upper-middle class status, supportive family, burgeoning career as an artist, and new, popular boyfriend -- so some readers will not sympathize with her plight

[Torreon Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jennifer grew up knowing her dad was a donor. Realizing the differences in herself compared to her family, she decides it might be a good idea to find out if she has any biological family members still alive. Jennifer finds out about a long-lost sister. When Jenifer looks back on life, she finds some very interesting things about herself. I really liked this novel it just grabbed my attention in the library. I loved how Jenifer was so great in the book. By great I mean it was really her moving the book along. Although, I didn't like that Jennifer just out of nowhere had a love interest. It didn't really fit the book and, the ending wasn't how I felt it should be.

[Mona]

Jenny doesn't feel like she belongs to her own family. Everyone else is athletic; she's artistic. There is only one reason. She's sure of it. She is the oldest and her father is donor #142. She meets another child of donor #142 only to find that person is also athletic. The author takes a normal teenage angst of feeling like an outsider,substantiates it, and then surprises Jenny (and readers) with the idea that there is more than one cause to consider. This story is open-ended, allowing for a series.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Library read. <3 I love picking up the little Laurel-Leaf paperback editions. They look so cute and make the reading go by faster for some reason. Anyway, after reading Emily's writerly combos with Brendan Halpin in Half-Life of Planets and Jenna and Jonah's Fauxmance, I figured this would be a good book to pick up. It had a good dose of reality, an artistic heroine (which I have a weakness for), and some cool stuff that went on in terms of being a donor child. The plot itself was predictable - you are going to know how things play out - but I got caught up in it anyway.

[Esteln · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that The other half of me by Emily Fraklin was really good. I thought it was good because she explaines the charechters so well that you fell like you know them. She als builds alot of suspence in the story, so you never really know what is going to come next. The other half of me is also a heart worming book, talking about love, family, friendship and, having faith in you and every body else. Emily is an amazing author and, I really enjoy reading her books. The other half of me is a good book and I recomend it for everyone.

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is the story of a girl trying to find her place within her family. The twist is she is the daughter of doner # 142 and her mom; she has three half siblings and her father adopted her. when she meets her half sister (another child from doner #142) it isn't at all what she expected.
while at times predictable, it was a sweet story that is sure to resonate with YA's coming of age knowing that they weren't conceived in a "traditional" way.

[Melody · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this story about a girl whose mom used anonymous donor sperm to get pregnant, and the girl's discovery of a sibling through the Donor Sibling Registry. I'm sorry to say that I found the secondary characters to be virtual cardboard cut-outs, the situations mostly unbelievable. Franklin seems to be trying too hard for an interesting plot. Still, I'm glad to see a donor-conceived kid in a book, any book.

[Melissa Dwyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally rated G by Cheryl Dofner
Many things seem improbable, such as Jenny finding Alexa on almost her first search. Jenny had a crush on Tate for a long time and suddenly, when they speak for the first time, they end up dating. The story has many good lessons: perseverance, love and trust. Jenny learns to let others into her life and to accept herself. The book was not outstanding but can help readers look at how their actions affect the ways they are treated by others.

[Goldie Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only picked this book up because I still had 2 hrs for my shift and nothing to do, oh yep wait that book was worse than nothing to do. The characters, plotline, and development of their roles throughout the story was dismall. They were amazingly fited to the main characters views of the plot all in all I was dissapointed and should've spent my time doodling.

[Anna Hardesty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read a book almost like this before, so it's kind of like a cliche' to me.

Jenny has the "sporty" family, yet she's an artistic type.
You know the drill. Not very exciting.

If you are unlike me and haven't read many books like this, I recommend it, but if you have, I wouldn't read it.

[Lea Ivy · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is definitely a good read, i enjoyed reading this! this is about a girl finding her long lost sister and with the way she has been living, everything changes. she feels that her half sister is taking everything away from her.



this book is a really warm, family - related story. i would love to give this book as a present to one of my cousins or best friends.