Chasing the Skip by Janci Patterson

After Ricki's mother has left again for the umpteenth time, she is sent to live with her father because her grandmother doesn't want to take care of her anymore.

The thing is, Ricki's father is a bounty hunter, so she has to do school online, can't see her friend Anna or her boyfriend Jamie anymore, and is living in a trailer by night, truck by day chasing after teens who skipped their court date.

Not exactly the ideal life for a 15 year old.

And it's not exactly the glamorous life for her since she doesn't really know her father. Ricki's been living with her mother and whatever boyfriend of the week she has, while her father has basically ignored her until recently.

Things start to get interesting, though, when her father goes after Ian, the 17 year old car jacker. Ricki is curious about him, plus he's not hard to look at either. It also makes life intriguing when he keeps getting away from her father at every opportunity.

And Ricki wants to know more about Ian, despite her father's objections about talking to the "skips". Ian has a lot of viewpoints about life that are different than Ricki's, which make Ricki question how she should view life.

When Ricki has the choice of helping Ian or her father, she has to decide how she wants to live her life. And who in her life is the right person to trust and care about the most, since basically everyone keeps leaving Ricki to deal with herself on her own.

Who will Ricki choose: Ian or her father? Read Chasing the Skip by Janci Patterson to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
Hmm. The context of this story was very appealing. A girl traveling with her father to snag court date skippers to bring them back and get money for it.

But for some reason, I just couldn't relate or understand Ricki. Yes, I know her mother just upped and left her alone, making her go to her grandmother's house and then finally staying with her dad, so she feels unwanted and unloved by everyone. But she has someone taking care of her. She's not completely alone.

And Ricki keeps wanting to go to her mother in California, but if her mother left her, why would she want to go find her? I would want to stay as far away from the woman that left me with only a note. And not even any money to buy food or take care of the bills.

But that's just me.

And her fascination with Ian? I can see that, in a way, but why would anyone want to be with a fugitive? I guess it must be the bad guy thing going for him. But if my father was chasing after him to take him to court, I doubt it would go anywhere since he was wanted for jail...

Again, that's just my viewpoint.

So, yes, I liked the idea and overall aspect of this book, I just didn't really enjoy the book itself  even though I did finish it. Some readers may enjoy the whole book, but it just wasn't for me.

If you are looking for a book about adventure and traveling, this could work for you. There's nothing horrible in the novel, so any age could read it, especially since Ricki is only 15 in here.