Peaches

By Jodi Lynn Anderson

The New York Times bestselling debut novel from critically acclaimed author Jodi Lynn Anderson follows three very different girls as they discover the secret to finding the right boy, making the truest of friends, and picking the perfect Georgia peach.

Murphy McGowen has bright green eyes, a reputation as the wildest girl in Bridgewater, and a way of getting out of all the trouble she gets into. But when she's caught stealing from the Darlington Orchard, she's forced to repay her debt picking peaches in the hot Georgia sun.

Leeda Cawley-Smith has professionally whitened teeth and the softest skin her boyfriend has ever touched. Unfortunately, Leeda's parents aren't too keen on her being touched anymore. Now Leeda's country-club summer is out the window—she'll be getting a serious sock tan working at her uncle's peach orchard instead.

Birdie Darlington used to dance around her family's orchard picking peaches for fun. But now that her parents are getting divorced, Birdie would rather spend the summer in the A/C eating Thin Mints than pick another peach—too bad she doesn't have a choice.

Thrown together at Darlington Orchard, Murphy, Leeda, and Birdie discover what it means to find a real soul mate, and that sometimes cute boys know a lot about peach cider. And, of course, they learn the trick to picking a perfect peach. One thing's for sure—it's going to be a juicy summer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Mar 10, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061855139

Jodi Lynn Anderson

Jodi Lynn Anderson is the New York Times bestselling author of Peaches, Tiger Lily, and the popular May Bird trilogy. She lives in Asheville, N.C., with her husband, her son, and an endless parade of stray pets.

Reviews for Peaches

[cheriereads · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A sweet coming of age story about three teenaged girls. It deals with friendship and loyalty and learning who you want to be. The three main characters each have unique voices and I loved them all.The real strength of this book is in its descriptions. Ms. Anderson has such a way with words that you feel like you're right there in the orchard surrounded by the trees and the thick smell of ripe peaches on a sweltering summer day.Although not quite as good as Tiger Lily, this was still an entertaining read that will immerse you in its setting.

[sparkleponies · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this book about 3 teenage girls from different backgrounds, their conflicts and their becoming friends. Well written, inateresting story. I really liked the paragraph pages between chapters that gave intereseting background information about the characters.

[leftik_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I bought this book on a whim, and ended up loving it.

The story of the friendship between the three main characters is incredibly honest in the fact it's not instant. There is a lot of give and take and frustration in the formation of the friendships.

I will say though, you read this book and not only do you instantly want a peach, you have this desire to work on a peach orchard.

[hobbitprincess · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a Free Friday book for my Nook, so I really didn't know what to expect when I started to read it. It does take place in Georgia, and it involves peaches. Yes, really! The story is about 3 girls who are very different from each other and how they become friends one summer during peach harvest. There's Leeda who is rich and beautiful, Murphy who lives in a trailer with her mom who looks for love in all the wrong places, and Birdie who has been sheltered from life but lives on the peach farm and is experiencing her parents' divorce and possible loss of the orchard. It was a decent story, but there were some parts that were rushed and others that were dragged out longer than they should have been. The drive to Texas was a bit unbelievable also. I am not the target audience here; if I was, then I might have enjoyed it more. Still, it's a decent read.

[chuck37_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Oh, I SO wish that this were a better story than it is! The characters are so unique and so much fun, they'd be a blast to translate onto the big screen. It sucks that they're in a story that can't carry them there, though.

[devereuxa_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

i really liked this book. it hooked me and i couldn't stop reading until i finished it. it was funny, kind of sad and amazing book.

[silenceiseverything · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The first time I encountered the book Peaches was when I checked it out of my town's library about three and a half years ago. I read the first two chapters, immediately put it down, and said "This can't hold a candle to The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants, so why bother reading it?" So, I then brought it back to my library. A few months ago when I was book hunting at my local thrift store, I saw Peaches on the shelves for a dollar. I thought, "What the hell" and picked it up to see if maybe this time I could finish it. Well, I finally did and I have to say that my previous assessment was only half right. Peaches dealt more with three young girls who form an unlikely friendship due to working at a peach orchard for the summer. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was more about four young girls whom also had an unlikely bond, but we really didn't see it form. They were sort of born into it. So, while they basically had the same premise (best friends, summer, romances), they differed in the way they approached this. I liked that I got to see how Murphy, Leeda, and Birdie's friendship bloomed. It's not like it was BAM! and then they're BFFs for life. It was slow and steady, so it rang more true. After I finished Peaches, I figured out exactly why I put it down those years ago in the first place. The first chapter starts off with Murphy and I found her extremely unlikeable the first half of the book. I don't know if she was written with the intention of being unlikeable or not, but I found her bratty, pretentious, and just all around annoying at first. She did end up growing on me by the end of the book, but she still was my least favorite of the friends. I think my favorite would have to be Leeda, but I think that's because I sympathized with her home situation more. I really wanted her to tell off her mother for basically feeling indifferent to her for her entire life. Leeda was the one for whom I wanted the most closure. Anyway, I really liked Peaches and thought that it was the perfect summer read: sweet, fluffy, and heartwarming. Sure, it was no Sisterhood of Traveling Pants, but it was still pretty great. I'm definitely looking forward to reading the other installments to the series because I just have to (do you hear me? HAVE TO) find out what happens with Murphy, Leeda, and Birdie.

[taramatchi · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I think this story is a good cross between The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and The Breakfast club. It was a fun book to read and the dynamics of the three girls (Birdie, Leeda, and Murphy) was great. They were believable characters. It was a great summer read, and I wish I could have read it out by the pool (unfortunately 2 young kids would never let me). I am probably going to read the other books in the series to see where the story goes from here.

[francescadefreitas · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found this slow going at first, a typical story of unlikely girls forming a summer friendship - there's the bad girl (Murphy,) the prissy girl (Leeda,) and the... well, that's where things started to get more interesting. Birdie is half responsible orchardist, half late-blooming teenager. The three girls spend the summer together working, playing, sneaking out, and giving each other support during various troubles ranging from the romantic to the atmospheric.Basically, this book does exactly what it says on the tin - 'Three Georgia peaches are in for one juicy summer' no less, and no more.The omniscient and italicised tidbits at the start of each section were a little annoying.

[ewyatt_16 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After Murphy gets caught trying to steal Creme de Menthe from the farm, she is sentenced to spend her spring break working at the peach orchard. The stories of Leeda, Birdie, and Murphy, three very unlikely friends, are intertwined as they develop relationships with each other and learn more about themselves. This book reminded me a lot of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants as I read it.

[mrshillreads · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A book to recommend to fans of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books.

[nm3fall073jm · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book was about three girls one girl lived on the beach farm another girl came and lived there for the summer. Her cousin and Uncle were the ones that lived there and owned the farm and the other girl got in trouble and that was her summer job and the book is about them three getting along and becoming friends. I liked this book it's more of a girls book though.

[warriorlibrary · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Three very different girls spend a summer together growing up.

[chocolatechip_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

a good girls book with some unnecessary racy parts that is a lot like the sisterhood of the traveling pants, excpet these girls are not all "good girls"