In this light-hearted novel, single mom and super-attorney Jessica Burnstein, along with her 16-year-old daughter Emily squabble and spat their way through a week-long visit to East Coast colleges, in the company of a dozen other parent-child units.
The love and frustration of parenting glows through every page. Jessica alternates between loving Emily to pieces, dreading their coming separation, and wanting to kill her for the moody, snarky, occasionally-terrified adolescent she is. A typical 16-year-old, in other words. And at the same time, she's juggling a career crisis that may make the whole question of college moot for her daughter, who's not sure that's what she wants anyway.
Waxman has a beautiful ear for dialogue and is an obvious veteran of the battle between generations. The problems and decisions that come with preparing a child to leave the nest are issues most parents deal with, even if they don't make a six-figure income, and the emotional tug-of-war between Jessica and Emily is delightful. Or nostalgic. Or terrifying. It all depends on where the reader happens to be on the timeline.
The love and frustration of parenting glows through every page. Jessica alternates between loving Emily to pieces, dreading their coming separation, and wanting to kill her for the moody, snarky, occasionally-terrified adolescent she is. A typical 16-year-old, in other words. And at the same time, she's juggling a career crisis that may make the whole question of college moot for her daughter, who's not sure that's what she wants anyway.
Waxman has a beautiful ear for dialogue and is an obvious veteran of the battle between generations. The problems and decisions that come with preparing a child to leave the nest are issues most parents deal with, even if they don't make a six-figure income, and the emotional tug-of-war between Jessica and Emily is delightful. Or nostalgic. Or terrifying. It all depends on where the reader happens to be on the timeline.
