Hallie Palmer is one gutsy gal but not because she wants to be! During a raucous college party one evening, she sees her buddy Bernard approaching her through the hazy drunken figures. Twenty-four hours later, she is trying to cope with the fact of her father's death, her mother's inability to cope with his death, and the screaming, squalling noise of eight younger siblings. It seems she's the only one who's got enough head on her shoulders to take charge, and that's exactly what she does. No, I haven't given away the whole plot - that's just the outline!

But how she moves through these days will make you roar with laughter, hold your breath with shock, and cheer with a tear in your eye now and then as Hallie rises to the challenges which she never in a million years could have envisioned handling just so short a time ago.

Bernard continues to thrill readers with his dramatic quotes and singing! Although Hallie's sister and brother are grossly incompetent, they still provide a very funny background! And Mom's got quite a few surprises up her sleeve yet, so don't go counting her out yet - Hallie's about to get a whopper of a lesson about how life's choices really go that perhaps is not quite what one thought "should" happen.

Laura Pedersen's writing is definitely maturing delightfully and gracefully! The back of the novel states, "...beginner's luck can't last forever..." Oh, yes it can and it has vastly improved with Laura Pedersen's crafting of "The Big Shuffle."

Reviewed by Viviane Crystal on January 12, 2007

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