Springing

by Shirley Miranda

Junior year is the most stressful one of high school. That’s what they say. And so far Liz agrees but she hopes that this spring everything will pay off. After the winter she’s had, she looks forward to the science fair, fun with the crew and Joey, and unraveling the mystery of Patrick’s secret admirer. But she’s still haunted by her past. It’s the anniversary of the worst day in Liz’s life and she handles it the only she knows how—badly. Relationships are tested. Liz begins to fall harder for Joey until his college acceptances and trips out of town threaten to tear them apart. Will Patrick help Liz and Joey get back together or break them up for good? Who can she trust with her secrets and her heart? With everything the next few months brings for Liz, can she bounce back and come out on top or will everything come crashing down?

398 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 27, 2013

About the author

For years, Shirley Miranda had an idea, a scene replaying over and over in her head. But the scene never quite ended. Unlike the other stories she started and finished all in her head, this one just paused in the middle of it. Shirley began writing fan-fiction when she was 11 years-old, many years before the term was coined or the internet to post it on. With no place to share it with, she mentally "wrote" many of them out. But one scene with her own original characters never got beyond that paused moment. With the encouragement of her husband, she put pen to paper (and fingers to keyboard), and began writing out the scene. It was clear from that moment on that it wasn't just one scene with two characters, they had a story to tell. This story couldn't be completed in one scene or even two. While her first love had been scriptwriting (as many of her fan-fiction tales were written), it wasn't meant to be told as such, or even a short story. The flood gates opened and her characters had so much to say and do beyond that one original moment.

Shirley Miranda currently teaches high school math and computer science in San Diego - surprised it isn't English? Even during her prior career of software engineering, Shirley volunteered to work with high school students interested in math and science. It was what caused her to switch to education. Falling (Book #1 in The Bits and Pieces Series) is Shirley Miranda's first novel.

Reviews

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I'm probably older than the intended audience, which I'm now quite certain must be 8th grade, I'm always a sucker for YA books. I just can't take anymore of these books, though. Once again, the sentence structure and ridiculous amount of detail nearly drove me insane. The book moved SO slowly - literally the first 15% is only about the science fair. There is so much detail that is just filler and I found it quite annoying. For example "There were two sets of judges. One set wore yellow ribbons. The other set wore light blue ribbons. The ones with the light blue ribbons walked over first." Pulling. Out. My. Hair. And, honestly, how much more do we need to talk about Liz's clumsiness??? Nobody is THAT clumsy. I do not really see why this needs to continually be brought up in writing. It has no real bearing on what is happening in the book. I was honestly waiting for Liz to be diagnosed with a brain tumor, and then it might just make sense. This author really beats a dead horse in so many ways, and I am quite tired of reliving the same events. Liz's recurring panic attacks throughout the book were also particularly annoying. There is really no climax until the end of the book. I had to skim to get there, and I definitely didn't miss anything.

***Spoiler Alert***

As with the other books, the relationship between Patrick and Liz remains stagnant. They were introduced in book one, and here we are at book four, and still nothing. While other relationships do happen, they all lack depth. I clearly think this book is geared toward middle school girls. I do think the author finally pulled it together for the climax, somewhere around 90% completion of the book. If she could write the entire book with that much feeling, then I'd be all over it.

I got very bored with Liz and Patrick this time, to the point that I do not really care what happens with/to them (even after the events at the end of the book). I'm very certain that I will not devote my time or money to another one of this author's books. At this point, if she does write another, I'll just hope for several reviews with spoilers so I can see what happens with them. I am slightly attached to the characters, but my interest in them has waned significantly after investing this much time with nothing to show for it. I seriously cannot make it through another book with that writing style.

[Leann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This installment in the series is much like the others, where the character of Liz transports me back to my teenage years. Liz looks at everything that happens around her through the lens of self-doubt and low self-esteem. She grows a little in this book, as we see her open up to people and new experiences. I really love this series, even though at times the pacing is too slow for my taste (no different than the other books in the series, though). It's very realistic. I gotta admit at one point in the book, Liz really got on my nerves, with her inability to look at anything positively. But since she was doing EXACTLY what I did with a boyfriend when I was her age (assuming the worst), I got over it. The ending was very good, and it made me groan that I read it so soon after it came out because now I have a long wait for the next one. Oh, and *SPOILER ALERT*, I really wish we could start seeing some glimmer of romantic feelings between Liz and Patrick, and none happened this time, not even in the POV switch at the end, where I thought Patrick might start realizing something. I hope that is where this series ends up. Though the slow play has its advantages, I'm getting impatient after 4 books.

[Michael Burhans · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fourth book in the Bits and Pieces series is the best yet. More emotionally raw, more details on the hopes and dreams of Liz and Patrick and whole crew. You learn some surprising things about the Mariposa family that make you understand some of the family dynamics.

With each book in this series I anticipate even more the next. I feel as if the crew were my friends from high school, their trials my bad days and their victories my bar stories from the past.

Shirley Miranda has created a little world inhabited by people you feel you know and the story keeps building and growing. A remarkable book in a remarkable set. Read them all!