Picture Perfect - Softcover

D. Anne Love is the author of several award-winning novels for young readers, including Defying the Diva, Picture Perfect, Semiprecious, and The Puppeteer’s Apprentice. Ms. Love lives in Texas hill country with her husband, Ron, and Major and Jake, their book-loving golden retrievers. You can visit her online at dannelove.com.

Grade 6–9—Phoebe Trask's story begins with the hot Texas summer before her freshman year in high school. A self-proclaimed daddy's girl, still Phoebe struggles when her mother becomes a traveling spokeswoman for a cosmetics company, virtually abandoning the family. Phoebe's sister is away at college; her best friend recently moved; and her father, a judge, is always busy, so she and her brother often find themselves on their own. Then a new next-door neighbor shakes things up: Beverly Grace, a lonely writer recently returned from Italy, strikes up a friendship with the judge. As Phoebe worries about events like her first kiss and her first dance, she also worries that her family won't survive her parents' separation. When her mother finally comes home for good, it is because she has been diagnosed with cancer. Despite a plethora of issues cluttering the plot (including a controversial case that the judge must decide and Phoebe's boyfriend's alcoholic father), the family dynamics are realistic, and the protagonist's voice rings true. The uplifting ending will leave readers satisfied.—Laurie Slagenwhite, Baldwin Public Library, Birmingham, MI
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