Jamie Talks 10 Of The Best & Worst Moms/Motherly Figures She's Encountered In Books Recently

For future Top Ten Tuesday topics & info on how to participate, click here!

This week's topic: Mother's Day related Freebie: favorite moms in literature, books about motherhood, best mother/daughter or son relationships, books to buy your mom, worst moms in literature, etc. etc.

THE BEST THAT I'VE ENCOUNTERED RECENTLY

1.  Agnes in Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy: Agnes is the grandmother of our main character, Ramona's, childhood friend Freddie. Agnes is not only a wonderful motherly type figure to Ramona when she's little and then when she returns into her life but she is Freddie's primary caretaker and is seriously THE BEST. I loved Agnes so much!

2. Blake's grandmother from Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner: Blake is one of the main character's friends who dies in the car accident (not a spoiler..it's in the summary). She has taken care of Blake since he was little because his real mom is the worst and then when Blake dies and she Carver embark on their Goodbye Day she does some good mothering towards him when he needs it most and refused to open up to his own parents (he does have a really good mom too!).

3. Molly's moms in The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli: Seriously I love her moms!! They are supportive and wonderful and I really loved her relationship with them! Becky really made them feel real and vibrant and essential, with their own storylines, rather than have them kind of faded into the background as so many YA parents are.

4. Lucy's mom in The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord: Oh man, I loved Lucy's mom so much and it pained me so much that she was going through so much. She is such a loving mom to Lucy and I just thought she was great.

5. Frances's mom in Radio Silence by Alice Oseman: She isn't maybe as HUGE as a part in this book as the others I've listed but it was such a wonderful and healthy mother-daughter relationship that I really appreciated. It was really nice to see how close they were!

6. Starr's mom in The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas: Starr got the great end of parental units. I loved her mom (and dad) SO MUCH. She's really such a great mom. I would honestly read a book about Starr's parents to be completely honest.

THE NOT SO GREAT ONES I'VE ENCOUNTERED

7.  Ramona's mom in Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy: I listed Freddie's grandma as BEST motherly figure above but maaan Ramona's mom in this book was rough. She wasn't like the WORST WORST...you could see she did try sometimes...but she was a hot mess mostly from leaving them when they were younger and how she acted in some of the scenes.

8.  Dana's mom in Fireworks by Katie Cotugno: Dana's mom is awful and I really felt for Dana. I totally could have added her bff Olivia's mom to the great mom list above because she always showed up for Dana when her own mom didn't and treated her like another daughter. 

9.  Jeanette's mom in The Glass Castle: The saddest part is that, unlike the other moms listed, this one is real because this book is a memoir. Her dad was the worst but her mom was just as bad and was an enabler and just ughhh her manic personality was so hard to deal with. I could not even with the parents and their ways. SO TERRIBLE and sad...like really sad. I was amazed at how she could still find love for her mom (and dad) as an adult.

10. Joss Byrd's mom in Unscripted Joss Byrd: OH SO AWFUL. Joss is a child actor and her mom is seriously terrible and uses her and I just wanted to punch her. 

Tell me about the amazing and awful moms/motherly figures you've encountered recently!!