2. Absolutely Maybe

Absolutely Maybe, by Lisa Yee (2009, February)

I came home from ALA Midwinter with a huge stack of galleys, as usual. In fact, my stack was even huger than ever because we drove down to Denver and I didn't have to worry about how to get it all back with me on a plane. Also, the vendors were practically shoving books into my hands this year.

This one's about a kind of typical outsider girl in Kissamee, Florida named Maybelline "Maybe" Mary Katherine Mary Ann Chestnutt, who runs away from her trainwreck of a mother in search of her biological father in Hollywood. She and her odd-duck best friend Ted tag along with "Hollywood," their only other friend, who's headed for USC for a summer film school program. Hijinx ensue, of course.

The series of events is too neat and implausable for me to suspend my disbelief: Hollywood is indeed a film prodigy, Ted goes to work as the personal assistant for a famous movie vixen of old, and Maybe lands on her feet in ways I won't spoil. Still, unrealistic events aside, I liked these kids and th0ught their relationships and the way they spoke rang true. Maybe's likable, but kind of an ass sometimes--just like a real teenage girl. It was a fast read and I enjoyed it. I might check out Yee's three previous books at some point. Probably after I finish the four dozen unread books sitting in my living room alone!