Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com
ABSOLUTELY MAYBE by Lisa Yee is due out in February 2009. It is her first YA/teen novel - and readers will not want to miss it.
The main character is Maybelline, "Maybe" to her friends. She is currently living above her mother's Charm School. She is surrounded by glamour and future pageant hopefuls, but she feels anything but glamorous. Depending on the day, Maybe's hair color might be red, green, or blue, thanks to endless boxes of unsweetened jello. Her baggy black T-shirts, goth eyeliner, and dark lipstick have her mother frantic. That is, when her mother isn't busy trawling for her next husband.
Maybe's best friends, Ted and Hollywood, are the only things that keep her going. Their support helps her tolerate her mother's boyfriends-turned-step-fathers, until the most recent, Jake, makes an attempt to turn Maybe into more than an innocent step-daughter. When her mother sides with her pervert husband-to-be, Maybe decides it is time to follow through on her lifelong dream to find her mysterious biological father.
Ted and Hollywood join in the adventure as they head to L.A. in search of all their dreams.
Their arrival in California is followed by terrific opportunities for Ted and Hollywood, but not so much for Maybe. After weeks of living homeless, she finally searches out her mother's husband #2/#4, the only one who made Maybe feel anyone ever cared for her. At least now she has a place to call home while she continues her search for the father she never knew.
Yee's characters draw readers right into their lives. You'll find something to like about all of them, and they'll make you anxious to turn to the next page and sad when you arrive at the last one. There are humorous escapades mixed with sensitive, sentimental scenes as Maybe's story is revealed.
I can only hope that Maybe returns someday to let readers know about the next chapter in her awesome life.
ABSOLUTELY MAYBE by Lisa Yee is due out in February 2009. It is her first YA/teen novel - and readers will not want to miss it.
The main character is Maybelline, "Maybe" to her friends. She is currently living above her mother's Charm School. She is surrounded by glamour and future pageant hopefuls, but she feels anything but glamorous. Depending on the day, Maybe's hair color might be red, green, or blue, thanks to endless boxes of unsweetened jello. Her baggy black T-shirts, goth eyeliner, and dark lipstick have her mother frantic. That is, when her mother isn't busy trawling for her next husband.
Maybe's best friends, Ted and Hollywood, are the only things that keep her going. Their support helps her tolerate her mother's boyfriends-turned-step-fathers, until the most recent, Jake, makes an attempt to turn Maybe into more than an innocent step-daughter. When her mother sides with her pervert husband-to-be, Maybe decides it is time to follow through on her lifelong dream to find her mysterious biological father.
Ted and Hollywood join in the adventure as they head to L.A. in search of all their dreams.
Their arrival in California is followed by terrific opportunities for Ted and Hollywood, but not so much for Maybe. After weeks of living homeless, she finally searches out her mother's husband #2/#4, the only one who made Maybe feel anyone ever cared for her. At least now she has a place to call home while she continues her search for the father she never knew.
Yee's characters draw readers right into their lives. You'll find something to like about all of them, and they'll make you anxious to turn to the next page and sad when you arrive at the last one. There are humorous escapades mixed with sensitive, sentimental scenes as Maybe's story is revealed.
I can only hope that Maybe returns someday to let readers know about the next chapter in her awesome life.
