Parker Prescott is the younger sister of Paige Prescott, and this accident of birth order has pretty much defined her throughout her life. She is less pretty, less popular, less troublesome to her parents, who have wanted and needed to focus on their fiery blond firstborn and later on their only son, born after several miscarriages and with a blazing case of ADHD. Parker copes with what she feels is her lesser-than status by keeping her emotions under tight control, so when she meets a boy who challenges that control she is immediately drawn to him. The draw is so scary though, that she pulls away, or at least tries to. Her feelings keep bringing her back, and he is willing to take Parker on whatever terms she offers, though he prefers her sexy side. This is where the novel is complex, deliberately confusing, and psychologically original: the boyfriend is never given a name, and Parker’s suspicion’s of his infidelity or his interest in her as a prize rather than a person prove utterly unfounded. Instead, he passes every test and fields every mixed signal she throws at him. Meanwhile she finds that her impressions of a lot of things in her life have been colored by her sickly green outlook, from her sister’s perfection, to her blog-maligned position in the school hierarchy, to her parents’ ideas of who she is. Plot threads of the reputation-wrecking blog and her sister’s stalker-turned-savior keep the narrative line from being oppressively internal, but there is still a whole lot of navel gazing going on here; give this to fans of Sarah Dessen who like their main characters inwardly focused, their romances and family relationships complicated, and their endings happy.

Gr 9 Up–Parker, 16, is the quiet, reserved middle child between little Preston and golden girl Paige. So why is her ex-boyfriend unbuttoning her blouse and handcuffing her in her father’s study? Her parents walk in, ground her for life, and it all ends up on her ex-best-friend’s blog. The real problem, though, is Parker’s attachment to the boy. Character development is excellent, especially of the family. The descriptions of Parker’s ADHD brother are humorous yet tender, her mother is uptight but not a caricature, and Paige insults Parker as only an older sister can. The teen’s voice, too, is natural and steady. The ex-boyfriend, unfortunately, is flat in comparison. Though the point may be that Parker’s obsession has more to do with her insecurities than his charms, their lack of chemistry fails to drive the plot or engage readers. The side plots, about Paige’s alcoholism, a stalking neighbor, and the family’s money troubles, are much more interesting. Still, Parker’s sexual candor is refreshing; she states her desires in a way usually reserved for male protagonists. The author describes the new-media gossip mill and insular suburbia convincingly. There’s a lot going on in Handcuffs, but Griffin manages to tie the strings together clearly and cleverly to a satisfying conclusion.

Not a novel for young teens, Griffin's book grippingly recounts a teenager's obsessive love story. Her characters are vivid, and readers will ache right along with Parker. Solid subplots round out this great debut.

Summary: Parker is in love. But they're broken up...kind of. She aches for him, but she's confused. With her perfect married sister always hanging around, the vicious blog at school posting racy pics of her and her parent's money problems, it's no wonder Parker's having a hard time figuring it all out.

AM New York
Handcuffs listed as a Potential Star of 2009