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Pennebaker Ruth

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough

Berkley Trade

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Joanie's ex-husband is having a baby with his new girlfriend. Joanie won't be having more babies, since she's decided never to have sex again.

But she still has her teenaged daughter Caroline to care for. And thanks to the recession, her elderly mother Ivy as well. Her daughter can't seem to exist without texting, and her mother brags about "goggling,"-while Joanie, back in the workforce, is still trying to figure out her office computer. And how to fend off the advances of her coworker Bruce.

Joanie, Caroline, and Ivy are stuck under the same roof, and it isn't easy. But sometimes they surprise each other-and themselves. And through their differences they learn that it is possible to undo the mistakes of the past.
Don't Think Twice

Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

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Biting humor with heart makes this a perfect paperback for teenage girls.

Anne Harper, a seventeen-year-old with a hard-hitting, yet hilarious, sense of sarcasm, is living in a group home for pregnant teenagers. As the weeks pass, she comes to realize that what is growing inside her is not just a child, but also a new awareness of herself.

Texas Family Time Capsule

Taylor Trade Publishing

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  • Equip: USED - Very Good
  • Notes: 100% Indemnity Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
  • ISBN13: 9781556228940

Description

At the end of the millenium, writer Ruth Pennebaker was in Texas, trying to keep her husband from blowing up their neighborhood every Fourth of July; rearing a daughter and son from early years into braces and backtalk; and finding out more than she wanted to know about breast cancer. Join this offbeat and funny writer for her views on America, Texas, and one particular and peculiar household.
Stork Realities: What No One Ever Tells You About Pregnancy

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Conditions of Love (Laurel-Leaf Books)

Laurel Leaf

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Sarah Morgan's world is spinning out of control . . . and it couldn't have happened at a more confusing time. While coming to grips with the truth about the recently deceased father that she idolized, Sarah must also contend with beginning her freshman year at a high-profile Dallas high school where if you see an old, beat-up car, it probably belongs to one of the teachers. While navigating halls overrun with phonies and cheerleaders, Sarah's quest to make peace with the old and grow with the new extends even to her relationship with her best friend. Now the two are forced to understand that with the future comes new and strange feelings, and with them, change. As a result of these often hilarious and sometimes heart-wrenching moments, Sarah learns that there are many different conditions of love.
Both Sides Now

Laurel Leaf

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Liza thinks she and her mother, Rebecca, are as different as a mother and daughter can be. Liza, a successful high school junior, works hard at keeping her life under control while maintaining a positive outlook.

Rebecca, who gave up writing after her book was rejected, recently completed grueling treatment for breast cancer. When tests reveal that more painful treatments are needed, it seems to Liza that Rebecca has given up.

As the control of Liza’s once predictable life unravels, she sees her mother’s courage and strength in a whole new light. Perhaps they can share the pain of the unknown together.
Fifteen-year-old Liza is the antithesis of the stereotypical teenager. Buttoned-down and straight-laced, Liza thinks carefully before she speaks, jogs regularly, and doesn't waste her valuable time on tantrums or tears. "If you don't plan, you'll get taken by surprise, and I don't want that to happen to me. I want to plan for everything so that I can have a good, successful life." But the one thing that Liza could never have planned on was her mother Rebecca getting breast cancer. With her mom's diagnosis, Liza is abruptly launched into a world without rules or meaning. Her characteristic sense of responsibility shot, Liza flunks driver's ed, forgets to fact check an important school newspaper article, and gets drunk for the first time. Suddenly, she begins to understand how her mother must feel, having to take life as it comes, and not being able to control every outcome. "Maybe I never understood anything.... Everything I knew--about Mom and Dad, about myself... has been wrong. It makes me feel stupid for the first time in my life. I'm not as smart as I thought I was. That's clear."

Young-adult author Ruth Pennebaker has penned her best book to date. Writing in a way that is wholly accessible to teens, her characterization of Liza is complex and solid. Though this is mainly Liza's story, a smattering of paragraphs are written in Rebecca's voice, giving the novel an added bittersweet quality--especially when the reader discovers that Pennebaker herself is a cancer survivor. Both Sides Now is a commendable addition to a small group of titles recently published about mothers, daughters, and cancer that includes Joan Abelove's Saying It Out Loud and Karin Cook's What Girls Learn. (Ages 12 to 18) --Jennifer Hubert