Beauty Shop for Rent

Beauty Shop for Rent by Laura Bowers

Abbey Garner lives with her great grandmother, Granny Po. She is driven by a goal - to be earn a million dollars by the time she is thirty-five. Abbey is determined not to make the same mistakes the women of her family have made, like having a baby at sixteen. She is well on her way to reaching her goal, with her work at Granny Po's beauty shop. Granny Po hopes to retire and slow down one day so she has a sign out front "Beauty Shop for Rent ...fully equipped, inquire within". The sign has been there for years! Abbey's life begins to change when somebody knocks on the door and wants to rent the shop. Will Abbey get to keep her job? Then something bigger happens - Abbey's mom shows up! She dropped Abbey off at Granny Po's four years ago saying she would be back to get Abbey soon. Now she is back and she has a plan for Abbey to come and live with her. But what will this plan cost Abbey?

Thoughts: I loved this book! I loved Abbey, Granny Po, the Gray Widows, and Gena! And I loved the lesson Abbey learned about family!

Absolutely Maybe

Absolutely Maybe by Lisa Yee

Maybelline "Maybe" Chestnut is not a beauty queen! And it drives her alcoholic mom crazy! Her mom is a former beauty queen who runs a charm school for aspiring beauty queens and is constantly trying to beautify Maybe, who resists all efforts. Maybe's mom throws out a surprise one morning before school that gets Maybe thinking of her birth father. Maybe doesn't even know his name! But a few days later, after her mom's surprise announcement that she is getting married again for the seventh time, Maybe decides to go find her dad. She leaves Florida and sets out on a cross country to Los Angeleswith her friends Hollywood and Ted. Maybe is determined to find her dad and get some stability and normality in her life. She risks everything even being homeless to get it. What will she find in Los Angeles? Who knows but she is going to have an adventure every step of the way! From dying her hair with Kool-Aid in the Burger King bathroom, to camping out every night in a college dorm lobby, to getting a job on a taco truck, the adventure is always something else!

Lucky

Lucky by Rachel Vail

This is the first book in a trilogy about the Avery sisters. This book is Phoebe's story. It is the end of her eighth grade year, and Phoebe and her small group of friends are busy planning their fabulous graduation party! It is going to be the party of the year! The whole school is buzzing about it. But Phoebe's life changes drastically one day when she comes home and finds her mom home unexpectedly early. Her mom's job is in danger and that means that Phoebe's whole existence may change. Will her family loose their big, beautiful house? Their maid? Her mom's Porsche? Will Phoebe have to cancel her graduation party?

Phoebe has to find out what is important in life and fast!

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

In the not-too-distant future, where biotechnological advances have made synthetic bodies and brains possible but illegal, a seventeen-year-old girl, recovering from a serious accident and suffering from memory lapses, learns a startling secret about her existence.

Thoughts - I liked the way this book was written with flashbacks and poetry that reads like journal entries. The story of Jenna raises the question about what the essence of a person is and what is necessary for a person to exist in a body. The author kept me reading to the very end! I was actually tempted to turn to the end to see how things turned out more than once!

*Summary taken from CIP data.