Jessica Becker (Children's Literature)
This is young adult fiction at its best. Dessen has written a sensitive and very modern story about a fifteen-year-old girl who reluctantly spends the summer on the beach with her crazy aunt, and she discovers what "girl night," good friends, and boys are all about. Colie has grown up overweight and is always the new kid at school. She listens to angry music and shields herself from the unfriendly world with her dyed hair and lip ring. When her mother's newfound fame as an aerobics instructor and infomercial heroine takes her on a European tour, Colie feels she is doomed to a lonely and boring summer. But a quirky cast of characters and an unexpected job at the local beach cafe bring with them a healthy helping of new experiences. Her eccentric Aunt Mira, Norman the hippie-artist who lives in the basement, and her waitress mentors help Colie begin to see herself and the world around her in a different way. Colie learns that it is not the comments of her classmates or the town busybodies that define a person, and that all butterflies have a caterpillar in their closet. In the tradition of classic adolescent fiction, Desson has written a hip and engaging story of self-discovery and personal growth. This is a wonderful read with strong messages for young girls coming into their own. 1999, Viking/Books for Young Readers, $15.99. Ages 12 up.

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 2000)
Fifteen-year-old Nicole Sparks has decided to become whatever her newly famous fitness guru mother is not. When her mother leaves for a world tour, Colie is sent to stay with Mira, an aunt she doesn't know in a North Carolina community far from the environment where she's developed her current persona aided by jet black hair, a lip ring and inhibited by a constant struggle with her weight. To heighten Colie's lack of confidence, her singularly dressed aunt seems to be the town's laughing stock, and there's unfinished business on more than one level in this relative's eccentric life. Her emerging friendships with two young women who work at the café where she gets a job and a shy male artist just a bit older than Colie threaten to crash when girls from school show up as tourists. Dessen has written a deeply affecting, humorous novel about appearances and survivors, about people who find out who they want to be and then remember who they are midst the pressures of conformity and a legacy of family expectation. CCBC categories: Fiction for Teenagers. 1999, Viking, 228 pages, $15.99. Ages 14 and older.

Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, October 1999 (Vol. 53, No. 2))
While her fitness-guru mother takes off on a tour of Europe, Colie heads up to her aunt’s for a small-town summer. Colie’s aunt is a cheerful eccentric, reveling in garage-sale reject clutter and indifferent to the opinion of others; this is incomprehensible to her deeply defensive niece, who runs to all-black fashion and sports a lip ring. Colie surprises herself, however, by finding a niche at the Last Chance Bar and Grill, where waitresses Morgan and Isabel mother and harry her, respectively, into a different approach to life and to her self-image. As in Someone Like You (BCCB 6/98), the author gives strong emphasis to the topic of friendship, in this case with a collection of examples: the strong friendship between hard-edged Isabel and hopeful Morgan, the budding friendship between Colie and the two young women, and the quiet friendship building between Colie and Norman, the young art-school student who works at the Last Chance and rents an apartment from Colie’s aunt. The book makes some interesting points about self-definition as Isabel, herself an outcast remade into a beauty, shoves Colie down transformation road (“It’s like the hidden secret that no one tells you. We can all be beautiful girls, Colie. It’s so easy. It’s like Dorothy clicking her heels to go home. You could do it all along”) and Colie, in a gratifying showdown, spurns her erstwhile nemesis. Dessen pulls her punches a bit by making chaste Colie’s fast reputation merely a smear campaign, which left-handedly suggests that the problem with the gossip was that it was incorrect. It’s honest in its assessment of the downside of transformation, however (Colie almost leaves Norman behind in the dust), and in the need not being everybody’s (Colie is mistaken in thinking that she and her aunt are kindred persecuted spirits). The appealing milieu and the female bonding, plus the possibility of great and desired change, will make this a satisfying read for girls in search of literary sisterhood. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 1999, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 1999, Viking, 228p, $15.99. Grades 7-10.

Leslie Dempsey (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 12, No. 4))
This is a novel of realistic fiction that will appeal to most teenage girls. It contains the elements of rebellion, insecurity, romance, and hope written in the authentic language of teenagers without that preachy quality most adults slip into. The reader will enjoy the story of Colie as she turns from the ugly duckling into a beautiful swan one long summer. Fiction. Grades 7 and up. 1999, Viking, 228p, $15.99. Ages 12 up.

Lynn Evarts (VOYA, December 1999 (Vol. 22, No. 5))
Colie is being shipped off for the summer by her mother, the famous infomercial fitness guru, Kiki Sparks. She will live with her Aunt Mira while Kiki travels through Europe spreading her message of fat-free fitness. From the moment the young hippie Norman picks her up at the train station, Colie knows this visit is going to be unusual. Meeting Aunt Mira only reinforces this idea. Colie discovers that Mira adores the World Wide Wrestling Federation, and posts notes such as "JIGGLE TO GET 11" on the television set and all around her cluttered home. Soon after arriving, Colie meets Morgan and Isabel at the local diner and begins working with them. Colie has been dealing with many demons after losing forty-five pounds and living with the "easy" reputation bestowed upon her by a popular girl at school, so she sees this summer as a fresh start. Through relationships with these eccentrics, she discovers how special and valuable friends are. Colie also learns that she can be like Aunt Mira, unafraid and unwavering in the face of criticism. Dessen has done it again with this charming novel. Readers will root for Colie and cheer for Aunt Mira as she rides her bike down the street, shirttails and hair flapping in the wind, oblivious to the stares and comments of the townspeople. The slow evolution of Colie's confidence will strike a chord with young adults who need a boost developing their own self-esteem. This wonderful coming-of-age love story will be enthusiastically shared by many high school teens. VOYA CODES: 5Q 5P S (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Every YA (who reads) was dying to read it yesterday; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 1999, Viking, 244p, $15.99. Ages 15 to 18.