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While most teens feel like a "freak" at some point during their adolescence, author Randall Beth Platt has taken that emotion to the extreme and created a character whose strangeness isn't just a feeling, but a physical fact. Fourteen-year-old Cordelia wears her freakiness all over her face--she's a half-Caucasian, half-Chinese albino. "I used to wonder if it was because my mother was yellow with ... More

While most teens feel like a "freak" at some point during their adolescence, author Randall Beth Platt has taken that emotion to the extreme and created a character whose strangeness isn't just a feeling, but a physical fact. Fourteen-year-old Cordelia wears her freakiness all over her face--she's a half-Caucasian, half-Chinese albino. "I used to wonder if it was because my mother was yellow with black hair, and my father was white with red hair, that I came out albino--without any color at all..." It is 1918, and Cordy's family lives in an isolated logging camp in the Pacific Northwest where most of the lumberjacks are used to her odd coloring. But when handsome Squirl joins the crew, he is fascinated by Cordy, and she by him. When Squirl is fired and leaves for Seattle, Cordy, completely smitten, runs away to join him. Once there, she learns that her appearance can turn a profit, and, after much cajoling by Squirl, joins "Dr. Ridenour's Carnival of Mystic Delights." But even as she enjoys fame and fortune, Cordy is troubled by Squirl's waning affection, and learns a shocking secret about her family that could change her life forever.

The Likes of Me is a truly original teenage angst story. Cordelia's unusual exterior only emphasizes her adolescent insecurity, making her the perfect sympathetic heroine for most teenaged girls. Platt's fresh take on a young girl's coming of age will leave teen readers with the knowledge that being different is nothing to be ashamed of, and that it can even be a source of great personal pride. (Ages 12 to 15) --Jennifer Hubert

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