If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home Now by Claire LaZebnik

• Title: If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home Now
• Classification:  Adult Fiction
  
• Genre:  Realistic Fiction
• Format: Paperback, 352 pages
• Publisher: 5 Spot; 1 edition (September 27, 2010)
• ISBN-10: 0446555010
• ISBN-13: 978-0446555012 
• Notes: Contains language some may take offense to, but I felt it was appropriate for the character.

     
     "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but everyone is dying to know your story. You know, because you  look so young."
     "I'm not as young as I look."
     "Really?" She narrowed her eyes. "So how old are you?"
     "Thirty-seven."
     Melanie said, "Don't listen to her. She's twenty-five."
     "And Noah's, what, six?"
     "Something like that." I knew my son's age, but this woman with her perfectly dyed and styled long blond hair and smoothly unmoving skin unsettled me, and that made me turn on my indifferent-mother act.
    "You had him pretty young."
    "Right," I said. "He was just a baby."
     "Good choice. The older ones hurt more coming out."

Rickie Allen isn't your typical mother. She's a single mom who lives with her parents. Rickie was on the college track, going to school when she got pregnant. She dropped out of school at the end of her freshman year to raise her son. Since then she's kind of lost herself along the way. She's taken online courses, but still hasn't done much to improve her current situation. Her son suffers from celiac disease, an autoimmune disease in which the body can't process gluten, which can be found in almost everything. He's slightly smaller and less outgoing than most of the other kids in his class. Not being able to eat most of the foods other kids can, makes him the target for bullying. In this one, both mother and child have problems fitting in and each has their own hurdles to overcome. Help comes from an unexpected source - the school's new PE coach, Andrew Fulton.  

This was a fun read. I liked the unexpected twist as to how Rickie ended up pregnant. I also liked how she used her snarky attitude to place a barrier between herself and others. I liked how both Rickie and her son overcame some of the hurdles that separated them from those around them. I also liked how part of Rickie seemed to heal as the book progressed. While she would never regret having her son, I felt a part of her truly was hurt by all that transpired. I also like how Rickie's sister, Melanie helped her step out of her comfort zone and meet some of the other moms. Just as some moms had preconceived notions as to the type of person Rickie was, she also had some about the other moms. I gave this one 3 out of 5 roses.