In an effort to post regularly here, I'm starting my "First Monday" postings. I know; it's Wednesday. Chalk it up to Labor Day and summer vacation mentality. Anyway, starting after this week I'll be posting every first Monday of the month.

NOT LIKE YOU gets starred review!!!

If you don't want to read the whole thing, here's an excerpt:

"Thoughtful, touching, and honest, this story hits all the right notes...a book to learn from and remember." --School Library Journal

And if you do want to read it all, here you go:

*DAVIS, Deborah. Not Like You. 268p. Clarion. 2007. Tr $16. ISBN 978-0-618-72093-4. LC number unavailable.

Gr 7 Up–Kayla’s mother has made the 15 years of her daughter’s life unpredictable, from moving for “fresh starts” to drunken binges, no money, loser boyfriends, and a year in foster care. Kayla is tired of being the adult and of letting a guy use her for sex just to feel loved. When Marilyn moves them to New Mexico and seems genuinely to want to stay sober, Kay is skeptical, but she begins to make a life for herself by walking dogs and making friends, especially with a 24-year-old musician. Thoughtful, touching, and honest, this story hits all the right notes. Kayla is a character full of flaws and hopes. Despite having grown up fast, she is still a teenager: moody and angry because of a mother who chooses alcohol over her daughter. Marilyn is fully dimensional, with her own failures, small triumphs, and desperation. Their relationship is truthfully portrayed with its complications of love, hate, and disappointment. Kayla’s realization that she is repeating her mother’s mistakes is as much an epiphany for readers as it is for her. Davis uses the desert setting as another way for readers to gain insight into the characters. When Kayla begins to understand her mother and love herself, instead of a stark landscape she sees nuanced color and calming beauty. Similar to Sarah Dessen’s This Lullaby (2002) and The Truth about Forever (2004, both Viking), this novel is full of loneliness and yearning. It’s a book to learn from and remember.–Anne Rouyer, New York Public Library

I'm thrilled to receive such a positive review. And grateful. And glad that all those revisions I did made a difference!