Normandy Pale’s life is…complicated. She and her two best friends have embarked on a truth telling crusade where they ask people at their arts high school the one burning question everyone wants to know about them. As you might imagine, this sometimes puts them into some fairly uncomfortable and occasionally hilarious situations. Normandy’s older sister Keira is an eccentric genius who publishes the Diana Chronicles, which is an exaggerated, unflattering comic version of Normandy’s family– another fairly uncomfortable and NOT always funny position to be in. Now the intensely private Keira has laid a pretty hardcore truth on her right as Normandy begins developing “like like” feelings for one of her best friends. How is Normandy supposed ask people the truth when her own sister is begging her to keep an awful secret and her crush has no idea how she feels? Normandy may want the truth, but she just may not be able to handle it! This wickedly sly, smart read could only come from the ever fertile brain of Canadian author Susan Juby. Full of funny footnotes and sardonic scribbles, this utterly original read is ripe pickings for fans of John Green, My So Called Life or Degrassi High. If you’re looking to fill your beach bag with intelligent laughs this summer, then this is the book for you!
Month: June 2015
Not Just Your Parents’ Summer Reading!
Dear teen peeps, I was recently given the opportunity to review some fabulous up and coming YA fiction titles for the New York Times that are considered “crossover” books–that is, books that both you AND the adults in your life might enjoy reading. The print review appeared in the May 31 issue of the NYT Sunday Book review, but you can read it online here. Any of these titles would make outstanding summer reading choices and maybe even give you and your parents something to talk about while sunning at the beach or grilling the ‘dogs. Want more suggestions for laid back vacation prose? Then check out the entire 2015 NYT super-sized Summer Reading Book Review!
