PRETTIEST DOLL is three weeks in the life of Liv Tatum, who is 13 years
old and already a veteran of the beauty-pageant circuit. Though she's
as pretty and successful as can be on the outside, on the inside Liv is
struggling to
cope with the death of her father, the demands of her mother, her
pageant coach's insistent
criticism, and her own ambivalence about her looks.
When she up and
runs away
with 15 year old Danny Jacobson, a troubled Texan on his way to
Chicago, she'll have to rely on her own
resourcefulness and courage, rather than on her fake eyelashes and
singing, to make it back in one piece.
PRETTIEST DOLL is somehow simultaneously
heartbreaking and heartwarming, zeitgeisty and timeless. Gina Willer-Pardo is a master at
writing realistic stories with a pitch-perfect middle school voice. I love this book!
"Willner-Pardo deftly captures the complexity of adolescence as
these resilient teens endeavor to define their identities and establish
control over their lives."--Kirkus
"Willner-Pardo gives Olivia
a realistically conflicted narrative voice . . . [Olivia's] growth is
organic and genuine."--Publishers Weekly
Available on IndieBound, from Powells, at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, or wherever fine books are sold.


That looks good! I'll have to put it on the list.
ReplyDelete