Weekly Reads: Freefall

I had heard a lot of great buzz about the new novel Freefall so I was excited to get it from my library when it came out. It was a page turner! Told in multiple perspectives revealing little tidbits with each chapter, I could not put this book down. I told everyone I could about it as I was reading it, and you should read it too. I could totally see this being an insanely good movie. So read it before it gets optioned and the hold list at your library goes bananas. :P

My rating: 5 stars

Summary from Goodreads:

A propulsive debut novel with the intensity of Luckiest Girl Alive and Before the Fall, about a young woman determined to survive and a mother determined to find her.

When your life is a lie, the truth can kill you

When her fiancé’s private plane crashes in the Colorado Rockies, Allison Carpenter miraculously survives. But the fight for her life is just beginning. For years, Allison has been living with a terrible secret, a shocking truth that powerful men will kill to keep buried. If they know she’s alive, they will come for her. She must make it home.

In the small community of Owl Creek, Maine, Maggie Carpenter learns that her only child is presumed dead. But authorities have not recovered her body—giving Maggie a shred of hope. She, too, harbors a shameful secret: she hasn’t communicated with her daughter in two years, since a family tragedy drove Allison away. Maggie doesn’t know anything about her daughter’s life now—not even that she was engaged to wealthy pharmaceutical CEO Ben Gardner, or why she was on a private plane.

As Allison struggles across the treacherous mountain wilderness, Maggie embarks on a desperate search for answers. Immersing herself in Allison’s life, she discovers a sleek socialite hiding dark secrets. What was Allison running from—and can Maggie uncover the truth in time to save her?

Told from the perspectives of a mother and daughter separated by distance but united by an unbreakable bond, Freefall is a riveting debut novel about two tenacious women overcoming unimaginable obstacles to protect themselves and those they love. 

Weekly Reads: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is by debut author Hank Green. You may be familiar with Hank Green if you're a Nerdfighter, but if you're not, his brother is John Green and he's equally as awesome. I was super excited to check out (hehe, library joke there) his new book. The story was a little slow moving to me, and had I not volunteered to review it for the young adult book committee I serve on, I may have returned it to read at a later date. Once I got to the final 100 pages, I couldn't put it down. So a good story, but the pacing was just not my favorite.


My rating: 4 stars

Summary from goodreads:

The Carls just appeared. Coming home from work at three a.m., twenty-three-year-old April May stumbles across a giant sculpture. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship--like a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor--April and her friend Andy make a video with it, which Andy uploads to YouTube. The next day April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world--everywhere from Beijing to Buenos Aires--and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the center of an intense international media spotlight. 

Now April has to deal with the pressure on her relationships, her identity, and her safety that this new position brings, all while being on the front lines of the quest to find out not just what the Carls are, but what they want from us.

Weekly Reads: The Ever After

The Ever After is the newest title by Sarah Pekkanen, out on June 5th. I received an e-ARC of it to read and review honestly. I always enjoy Sarah Pekkanen's books, so I didn't hesitate to read this one on my recent trip home from Boston. I honestly hadn't even read the description, so it wasn't subject matter that I would've necessarily been drawn to. I do think it an interesting portrayal of life after infidelity. I have no clue if it's an accurate depiction of it, and hope to never find out, but it did feel very honest and raw to me. Definitely worth a read, and I think a new foray for the author.

My rating: 3.5 stars

Summary from goodreads:

In this intricate and enthralling domestic drama the author of the “gossipy page-turner” (Glamour) The Perfect Neighbors goes deep into a marriage in crisis, peeling back layers of secrets to discover where the relationship veered off course—and whether it is worth saving.

Josie and Frank Moore are happy… at least Josie thinks they are. As parents of two young girls in the Chicago suburbs, their days can be both busy and monotonous, and sometimes Josie wonders how she became a harried fortysomething mother rather than the driven career woman she once was. But Frank is a phenomenal father, he’s handsome and charismatic, and he still looks at his wife like she’s the beautiful woman he married more than a decade ago. Josie isn’t just happy—she’s lucky.

Until one Saturday morning when Josie borrows her husband’s phone to make a quick call—and sees nine words that shatter her world.

Now Josie feels as if she is standing at the edge of a sharp precipice. As she looks back at pivotal moments in the relationship she believed would last forever, she is also plunging ahead, surprising everyone (especially herself) with how far she will go to uncover the extent of her husband’s devastating secret. 

Weekly Reads: Smothered

 Smothered is a new book by Autumn Chiklis. I saw it being advertised as an up and coming title and it looked right up my alley. Plus there were two pugs on the cover. How could I resist? I read it while traveling to Boston, and it was a very fast entertaining read. I think I would've enjoyed it more right after college, as I would've identified a little bit more with the storyline, but it was still a good light read. I received an e-ARC of it, so it was a little challenging to read on a device, I would highly recommend getting the physical copy of it. Also there were a lot of funny footnotes (a la Jen Lancaster of yore, and those didn't format well with the e-copy. 

My rating: 3 stars

Summary from Goodreads:

A humorous debut crossover young adult novel about what happens when entering the "real world" means moving back in with your mother, inspired by actress and celebrity Autumn Chiklis' real life.

Eloise “Lou” Hansen is graduating from Columbia University summa cum laude, and she's ready to conquer the world. Just a few minor problems: she has no job, no prospects, and she’s moving back into her childhood bedroom. Lou is grimly determined to stick to a rigorous schedule to get a job and get out of her parents’ house. Shelly “Mama Shell” Hansen, on the other hand, is ecstatic, and just as determined to keep her at home. Who else will help her hide her latest binge-shopping purchases from her husband, go to SoulCycle with her, and hold her hand during Botox shots?

Smothered is a hilarious roman à clef told via journal entries, text messages, emails, bills, receipts, tweets, doctor’s prescriptions, job applications and rejections, parking tickets, and pug pictures, chronicling the year that Lou moves back home after college. Told from Lou’s point-of-view, Smothered tells the story of two young(ish) women, just trying to get it right, and learning that just because we all grow up doesn’t mean we necessarily have to grow old. (After all, what is Juvaderm for?)

Weekly Reads: Sidetracked

Sidetracked made its way on to my TBR pile based on the cover alone. A track book? Sign me up! But it was even more than that,  for one it was about cross country, and for two it shows how great and terrible youth can be, but that good can usually always prevail. Quick great read.

My rating: 5 stars

Summary from goodreads:

To Joseph Friedman, middle school might as well be the Running of the Bulls. He’s friendless and puny, with ADD to boot, so he spends most of his time avoiding class bully Charlie Kastner and hiding out in the Resource Room, a safe place for misfit kids like him. But then, on the first day of seventh grade, two important things happen. First, his Resource Room teacher Mrs. T encourages (i.e., practically forces) him to join the school track team, and second, he meets Heather, a tough, athletic new girl who isn’t going to be pushed around by Charlie Kastner—or anybody else.

At first, track is as much of a disaster as everything else in Joseph’s life. But slowly Joseph hits his stride, and instead of running from the bulls . . . he’s just running.

Weekly Reads: Paper Towns

I'm probably the last John Green fan on the planet to just read Paper Towns, but here we are. I love his books SO MUCH that I didn't want to speed read my way through all of them, and then just be stuck in this world where there isn't another one for me to read. I had tried to listen to this on audio several years ago, and could not get into the narrator, but I chose it for an upcoming book club meeting.

I could not put it down, it was so great, and had a really good mystery element. I love John Green.

My rating: 4 stars

Summary from Goodreads:

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows.

After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they’re for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer Q gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew.

Weekly Reads: There's Someone in the House

There's Someone Inside Your House is the newest book by Stephanie Perkins and a completely different type of book than I'm used to reading of hers. It reminded me a lot of R.L. Stine's Fear Street series, and was a fast read.

My rating:  3.5 stars

Summary from Goodreads:

Scream meets YA in this hotly-anticipated new novel from the bestselling author of Anna and the French Kiss.

One-by-one, the students of Osborne High are dying in a series of gruesome murders, each with increasing and grotesque flair. As the terror grows closer and the hunt intensifies for the killer, the dark secrets among them must finally be confronted.

International bestselling author Stephanie Perkins returns with a fresh take on the classic teen slasher story that’s fun, quick-witted, and completely impossible to put down.

Weekly Reads: Solo

Solois the newest novel in verse from Kwame Alexander. I loooooove him. And full disclosure: I loved this book. It was a super fast read, despite its large page count, but it is done in verse so it reads very quickly. It was lovely, and sad, and was the second book this fall to bring me to tears while reading it on my lunch break. Must read.

My rating: 5 stars

Review from Goodreads:

Solo, a YA novel in poetic verse, tells the story of seventeen-year-old Blade Morrison, whose life is bombarded with scathing tabloids and a father struggling with just about every addiction under the sun—including a desperate desire to make a comeback. Haunted by memories of his mother and his family’s ruin, Blade’s only hope is in the forbidden love of his girlfriend. But when he discovers a deeply protected family secret, Blade sets out on a journey across the globe that will change everything he thought to be true.

Weekly Reads: Goodbye Days

Goodbye Days is the newest book by Jeff Zentner. It's a perfect bundle of the heartbreak of losing friends, the grief that you make your way through in a time of loss and so much more. I had to stop reading this on my lunch break at work because I was crying so much. So good.

My rating: 5 stars

Summary from Goodreads:

What if you could spend one last day with someone you lost?

One day Carver Briggs had it all—three best friends, a supportive family, and a reputation as a talented writer at his high school, Nashville Academy for the Arts.

The next day he lost it all when he sent a simple text to his friend Mars, right before Mars, Eli, and Blake were killed in a car crash.

Now Carver can’t stop blaming himself for the accident, and he’s not the only one. Eli’s twin sister is trying to freeze him out of school with her death-ray stare. And Mars’s father, a powerful judge, is pressuring the district attorney to open a criminal investigation into Carver’s actions.

Luckily, Carver has some unexpected allies: Eli’s girlfriend, the only person to stand by him at school; Dr. Mendez, his new therapist; and Blake’s grandmother, who asks Carver to spend a Goodbye Day with her to share their memories and say a proper goodbye to his friend.

Soon the other families are asking for a Goodbye Day with Carver, but he’s unsure of their motives. Will they all be able to make peace with their losses, or will these Goodbye Days bring Carver one step closer to a complete breakdown or—even worse—prison?

Weekly Reads: Scar Island

Scar Island is the newest book by Dan Gemeinhart, a phenomenal middle school/middle grade author. This book was being described as Holes meets Lord of the Flies. Yes please! It was a super fast read, and fast-paced novel. I flew through it. I've been doing summer reading promotions to 5th and 6th graders and many of them loved this just as much as me.

My rating: 4.5 stars.

Summary from goodreads:

Jonathan Grisby is the newest arrival at the Slabhenge Reformatory School for Troubled Boys -- an ancient, crumbling fortress of gray stone rising up from the ocean. It is dark, damp, and dismal. And it is just the place Jonathan figures he deserves.

Because Jonathan has done something terrible. And he's willing to accept whatever punishment he has coming.

Just as he's getting used to his new situation, however, a freak accident leaves the troubled boys of Slabhenge without any adult supervision. Suddenly the kids are free, with an entire island to themselves. But freedom brings unexpected danger. And if Jonathan can't come to terms with the sins of his past and lead his new friends to safety . . . then every boy on the island is doomed.

Weekly Reads: Me and Marvin Gardens

I absolutely love A.S. King so I was thrilled when I found out that she had written a book for a younger audience Me and Marvin Gardens. It was just as wonderfully weird as her other books were, and I loved it. I also enjoyed the environmental message that was strung through the story.

My rating: 4.5 stars

Summary from Goodreads:

Obe Devlin has problems. His family's farmland has been taken over by developers. His best friend Tommy abandoned him for the development kids. And he keeps getting nosebleeds, because of that thing he doesn't like to talk about. So Obe hangs out at the creek by his house, in the last wild patch left, picking up litter and looking for animal tracks.

One day, he sees a creature that looks kind of like a large dog, or maybe a small boar. And as he watches it, he realizes it eats plastic. Only plastic. Water bottles, shopping bags... No one has ever seen a creature like this before, because there's never been a creature like this before. The animal--Marvin Gardens--soon becomes Obe's best friend and biggest secret. But to keep him safe from the developers and Tommy and his friends, Obe must make a decision that might change everything.

Weekly Reads: This is Where the World Ends

This Is Where the World Endsis the newest book by Amy Zhang. The story is told in alternating points of view where one story starts from now leading back to "the event" and the other story starting from the beginning leading up to "the event". I could not put this book down. I read it in less than 24 hours.

My rating: 4.5 stars

Summary from goodreads:

Janie and Micah, Micah and Janie. That’s how it’s been ever since elementary school, when Janie Vivien moved next door. Janie says Micah is everything she is not. Where Micah is shy, Janie is outgoing. Where Micah loves music, Janie loves art. It’s the perfect friendship—as long as no one finds out about it. But then Janie goes missing and everything Micah thought he knew about his best friend is colored with doubt.

Using a nonlinear writing style and dual narrators, Amy Zhang reveals the circumstances surrounding Janie’s disappearance in a second novel.

Weekly Reads: Kids of Appetite

Kids of Appetiteis one of the books on my list for the Printz award. The book was confusing for quite awhile because it was told in alternation point of views, but everyone went by nicknames so it was a little hard to follow. Each chapter started with a police interrogation with the person's real name so it took a bit to figure out who was stating what. Once I got into it, I really enjoyed it, but it did get intense. I don't think this'll win a Printz award or honor but it's a book a lot of teens will really enjoy!

My rating: 3.5 stars

Summary from goodreads:

The bestselling author of Mosquitoland brings us another batch of unforgettable characters in this tragicomedy about first love and devastating loss.

Victor Benucci and Madeline Falco have a story to tell.
It begins with the death of Vic’s father.
It ends with the murder of Mad’s uncle.
The Hackensack Police Department would very much like to hear it.
But in order to tell their story, Vic and Mad must focus on all the chapters in between.

This is a story about:

1. A coded mission to scatter ashes across New Jersey.
2. The momentous nature of the Palisades in winter.
3. One dormant submarine.
4. Two songs about flowers.
5. Being cool in the traditional sense.
6. Sunsets & ice cream & orchards & graveyards.
7. Simultaneous extreme opposites.
8. A narrow escape from a war-torn country.
9. A story collector.
10. How to listen to someone who does not talk.
11. Falling in love with a painting.
12. Falling in love with a song.
13. Falling in love.

Weekly Reads: The Chemist

The Chemistis the newest book by teen vampire author Stephenie Meyer. It was billed as a Jason Bourne type thriller (although in one review it was listed as a budding romance... uh... no). I listened to it on audiobook, and despite it being 17 HOURS LONG, I still plowed through it in just a few weeks team. It was fast paced and entertaining. Some of the "twists" were pretty transparent. But overall a good read!

My rating: 3.5 stars

Summary from goodreads:

In this gripping page-turner, an ex-agent on the run from her former employers must take one more case to clear her name and save her life.

She used to work for the U.S. government, but very few people ever knew that. An expert in her field, she was one of the darkest secrets of an agency so clandestine it doesn’t even have a name. And when they decided she was a liability, they came for her without warning.

Now, she rarely stays in the same place or uses the same name for long. They’ve killed the only other person she trusted, but something she knows still poses a threat. They want her dead, and soon.

When her former handler offers her a way out, she realizes it’s her only chance to erase the giant target on her back. But it means taking one last job for her ex-employers. To her horror, the information she acquires only makes her situation more dangerous.

Resolving to meet the threat head-on, she prepares for the toughest fight of her life but finds herself falling for a man who can only complicate her likelihood of survival. As she sees her choices being rapidly whittled down, she must apply her unique talents in ways she never dreamed of.

In this tautly plotted novel, Stephenie Meyer creates a fierce and fascinating new heroine with a very specialized skill set. And she shows once again why she’s one of the world’s bestselling authors.

Weekly Reads: The Female of the Species

The Female of the Speciesis one of the last books I read leading up to the Printz award. It had stayed off of my radar until a month out to the awards so I had to scramble to read it. It was INTENSE. Holy cow. Total Dexter vibes, and I loooooved me some Dexter. I don't know if it'll walk away with any awards (this'll probably post after the awards, so maybe I'll edit to include if I was wrong....maybe) but it is an intense gritty read that teens with devour. (It was fairly graphic with some depictions of rape culture, so if that's a trigger for you, read with caution.)

My rating: 4.5 stars

Summary from goodreads:

Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it. When her older sister, Anna, was murdered three years ago and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best. The language of violence.

While her crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people, even in her small hometown. She relegates herself to the shadows, a girl who goes unseen in plain sight, unremarkable in the high school hallways.

But Jack Fisher sees her. He’s the guy all other guys want to be: the star athlete gunning for valedictorian with the prom queen on his arm. Guilt over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered hasn’t let him forget Alex over the years, and now her green eyes amid a constellation of freckles have his attention. He doesn’t want to only see Alex Craft; he wants to know her.

So does Peekay, the preacher’s kid, a girl whose identity is entangled with her dad’s job, though that does not stop her from knowing the taste of beer or missing the touch of her ex-boyfriend. When Peekay and Alex start working together at the animal shelter, a friendship forms and Alex’s protective nature extends to more than just the dogs and cats they care for.

Circumstances bring Alex, Jack, and Peekay together as their senior year unfolds. While partying one night, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting the teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever.

Weekly Reads: Wedding Girl

If I'm being honest, I can say that the only reason I picked up this book was because there was a pug on the cover. I'm such a sucker. Wedding Girl was so much better than expected, I was shocked! Normally when I crave a good light, chick lit read I'm annoyed when I'm done reading it, because it didn't really scratch the itch and ended up lame. Not the case with this one. So enjoyable.

My rating: 4 stars.


Summary from goodreads:

You’ve Got Mail meets Julie & Julia in the new foodie fiction from the author of Recipe for Disaster.

Top pastry chef Sophie Bernstein and her sommelier fiancé were set to have Chicago’s culinary wedding of the year…until the groom eloped with someone else in a very public debacle, leaving Sophie splashed across the tabloids—fifty grand in debt on her dream wedding and one-hundred percent screwed on her dream life. The icing on the cake was when she lost her job and her home…

Laying low, Sophie moves in with her grandmother, Bubbles. That way, she can keep Bubbles and her sweater-wearing pug company and nurse her broken heart. But when Sophie gets a part-time job at the old-fashioned neighborhood bakery, she finds herself up to her elbows in dough and reluctantly giving a wedding cake customer advice on everything from gift bags to guest accommodations. Before she knows it, she’s an online wedding planner. It’s not mousse and macarons, but it pays the bills. But with the arrival of unexpected personal and professional twists, Sophie wonders if she’s really moving forward—or starting over from scratch...

Weekly Reads: The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love

The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love has an amazing book cover. I love using this book on my library displays. I picked it up at the end of the summer, and it was a perfectly nerdy love story. I enjoyed it so much. Definitely a must-read for comic con fans and nerds in general.

My rating: 4 stars

Summary from goodreads:

Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy. Archie and Veronica. Althena and Noth.…Graham and Roxy?

Graham met his best friend, Roxy, when he moved into her neighborhood eight years ago and she asked him which Hogwarts house he’d be sorted into. Graham has been in love with her ever since.

But now they’re sixteen, still neighbors, still best friends. And Graham and Roxy share more than ever—moving on from their Harry Potter obsession to a serious love of comic books.

When Graham learns that the creator of their favorite comic, The Chronicles of Althena, is making a rare appearance at this year’s New York Comic Con, he knows he must score tickets. And the event inspires Graham to come up with the perfect plan to tell Roxy how he really feels about her. He’s got three days to woo his best friend at the coolest, kookiest con full of superheroes and supervillains. But no one at a comic book convention is who they appear to be…even Roxy. And Graham is starting to realize fictional love stories are way less complicated than real-life ones.

Weekly Reads: Scrappy Little Nobody

As soon as I heard that Anna Kendrick was writing a book, Scrappy Little Nobody, I put in a request to my library for the book and the audiobook. I need them BOTH. Once the items were added to our library, I realized that I didn't get added to the list for the audiobook. Insert sad face here. I got the book copy and flew through it. I feel like I would be besties with her. If given the option, I would've much preferred to listen to it, but that's how the cookie crumbles.

My rating: 4.5 stars

Summary from goodreads:

A collection of humorous autobiographical essays by the Academy Award-nominated actress and star of Up in the Air and Pitch Perfect.

Even before she made a name for herself on the silver screen starring in films like Pitch Perfect, Up in the Air, Twilight, and Into the Woods, Anna Kendrick was unusually small, weird, and “10 percent defiant.”

At the ripe age of thirteen, she had already resolved to “keep the crazy inside my head where it belonged. Forever. But here’s the thing about crazy: It. Wants. Out.” In Scrappy Little Nobody, she invites readers inside her brain, sharing extraordinary and charmingly ordinary stories with candor and winningly wry observations.

With her razor-sharp wit, Anna recounts the absurdities she’s experienced on her way to and from the heart of pop culture as only she can—from her unusual path to the performing arts (Vanilla Ice and baggy neon pants may have played a role) to her double life as a middle-school student who also starred on Broadway to her initial “dating experiments” (including only liking boys who didn’t like her back) to reviewing a binder full of butt doubles to her struggle to live like an adult woman instead of a perpetual “man-child.”

Enter Anna’s world and follow her rise from “scrappy little nobody” to somebody who dazzles on the stage, the screen, and now the page—with an electric, singular voice, at once familiar and surprising, sharp and sweet, funny and serious (well, not that serious).

Weekly Reads: Forward

I've been a big fan of Abby Wambach since I started watching soccer 5-6 years ago. She's strong and a ferocious competitor. I cried a little when she announced her retirement, and then was shocked by her DUI arrest last winter. When I heard she was writing a book, I couldn't wait to pick it up. I read Forward in an afternoon. Totally devoured it. I'd recommend it to any athlete or anyone dealing with any sort of inner demons. So good.

My rating: 4.5 stars

Summary from goodreads:

Forward is the powerful story of an athlete who has inspired girls all over the world to believe in themselves. Abby shows us by example how to overcome problems and live a happier, braver life." —Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO, New York Times Bestselling author of Lean In

“This is the best memoir I’ve read by an athlete since Andre Agassi’s Open. I could not put it down, and you will not want it to end.”  —Adam Grant, Wharton professor and New York Times bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take

Abby Wambach has always pushed the limits of what is possible. At age seven she was put on the boys’ soccer team. At age thirty-five she would become the highest goal scorer—male or female—in the history of soccer, capturing the nation’s heart with her team’s 2015 World Cup Championship. Called an inspiration and “badass” by President Obama, Abby has become a fierce advocate for women’s rights and equal opportunity, pushing to translate the success of her team to the real world.

As she reveals in this searching memoir, Abby’s professional success often masked her inner struggle to reconcile the various parts of herself: ferocious competitor, daughter, leader, wife. With stunning candor, Abby shares her inspiring and often brutal journey from girl in Rochester, New York, to world-class athlete. Far more than a sports memoir, Forward is gripping tale of resilience and redemption—and a reminder that heroism is, above all, about embracing life’s challenges with fearlessness and heart.

Weekly Reads: Still Life With Tornado

Still Life with Tornado is the newest book by teen author extraordinaire, A.S. King. Every book I've read of hers is pure gold, and the same is true with this one. King weaves in bits of magical realism to this coming-of-age story about a teen artist, while uncovering truths about her family dynamics, and abuse. The pov toggles from the daughter to the mother and your heart tears open as the story unfolds.

My rating: 4 stars.

Summary from goodreads:

“I am sixteen years old. I am a human being.”

Actually Sarah is several human beings. At once. And only one of them is sixteen. Her parents insist she’s a gifted artist with a bright future, but now she can’t draw a thing, not even her own hand. Meanwhile, there’s a ten-year-old Sarah with a filthy mouth, a bad sunburn, and a clear memory of the family vacation in Mexico that ruined everything. She’s a ray of sunshine compared to twenty-three-year-old Sarah, who has snazzy highlights and a bad attitude. And then there’s forty-year-old Sarah (makes good queso dip, doesn’t wear a bra, really wants sixteen-year-old Sarah to tell the truth about her art teacher). They’re all wandering Philadelphia—along with a homeless artist allegedly named Earl—and they’re all worried about Sarah’s future.

But Sarah’s future isn’t the problem. The present is where she might be having an existential crisis. Or maybe all those other Sarahs are trying to wake her up before she’s lost forever in the tornado of violence and denial that is her parents’ marriage.

“I am a human being. I am sixteen years old. That should be enough.”