The Big Shuffle
by Laura Pedersen

    THE BIG SHUFFLE by Laura Pedersen
    Category:  Contemporary
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 9+
    Release Date:  10/31/06
    Publisher:  Ballantine
    Reviewed by:  Carrie Spellman
    Rating:  5 Stars


    Hallie Palmer just wants to be a normal college student. But that idea has just flown out the window of the frat party
    she got pulled away from. Her dad just passed away, which caused her mom to have a nervous breakdown. The
    doctor’s send her mom to Dalewood, the local mental institution, for rest and recovery.

    With Dad gone, and Mom in the “nuthouse”, Hallie is back in the place she worked so hard to escape, home.  Now
    she has to arrange a funeral, take care of her eight younger brothers and sisters, sort through insurance information,
    conquer the growing stack of bills, and figure out which twin brother is which. (If only the ribbon had stayed in
    place!) Not to mention the runaway sister, the burst pipes in the basement, an on-again off-again boyfriend, and
    meetings with the school principal who still doesn’t like her. Hallie’s got her work cut out for her, and she’s pretty
    sure she’s done for.

    Help, and sometimes entertainment, come in strange forms, and Hallie learns that beggars can’t be choosers. From
    the churchwomen brigade who feed them, to crazy Uncle Lenny, who has some questionable ideas about bedtime
    stories (among other things), to a babysitting chimp, to even crazier Aunt Lala who’s more than a little
    absentminded… It may not be much of a life, but it certainly isn’t boring!

    This is not the first book about Hallie Palmer, but I can say from experience that it stands alone. (Having not read
    any of the others at this point, though I think I may have to do that now.) I do rather feel like I might have had more
    connection to the secondary characters if I had read the other books. (It took me awhile to figure out that Gil and
    Bernard were both men.) Nonetheless, I still found them lovable and entertaining. While I found Hallie a little
    frustrating at times, it helped to realize that I would be more than lost in that situation. There is a lot going on in this
    book, but it never felt jumbled or lost. I don’t know if Hallie and I would be friends, but I certainly like the people
    she hangs around with!