Picture Perfect Book

Fourteen-year-old Phoebe must learn how to pick up the pieces after her picture perfect life falls apart.

VOYA

As Phoebe Trask looks forward to freshman year, her world seems perfect: Her mother Beth is a successful representative for Bee Beautiful cosmetics; siblings Shyla and Zane are shining stars of the college and high school scenes; and her father is a respected judge. Then seemingly out of the blue, her mother accepts a position as traveling spokesperson for her company, and everything changes. With her mother gone indefinitely, who will guide Phoebe through her transition to high school? Who will support her father through a difficult trial that threatens to split the community? Could it be Beverly, their glamorous new neighbor? Not if Phoebe has anything to say about it! Love writes a "typical teenage angst" novel without the angst. Touchy situations abound, including her mother's seeming abandonment; father Sumner's attraction to another woman; brother Zane's dabbling in vandalism; and Beth's diagnosis with cancer. Phoebe struggles to make friends, falls in first love, and copes with threats to her family as her father attempts to deal impartially with a touchy case involving flag burning. Somehow a positive outcome is never in doubt; the reader knows all will be successfully resolved. That said, it is a refreshing book. The siblings love and support each other. They respect their father even though they worry about him. Phoebe is resilient and resourceful. Love demonstrates that characters coping successfully with challenges can make a good story too. Fans of light, contemporary fiction will find this offering picture perfect.