A teenage girl adapts to a new home, town, and school while navigating her first romantic relationship in this YA novel with hints of the paranormal.

Sixteen-year-old Gentry never lived in one place long enough to make friends or find romance. Her father; his girlfriend, Nikki; and her brother, Rawson, are forced by financial circumstances to live with her great-aunt Tom (short for Tomasina) in Wiregrass, Georgia. Her dilapidated antebellum house is too much for the old woman to manage, so she welcomes them in, but she keeps confusing Gentry for her own daughter, Sylvie, who committed suicide at 16. Gentry dreads going to school until she meets heartthrob Legend Wallace, whom she deems a “Sirloin,” her “favorite cut of beef.” She thinks that pursuing him is futile, as he’s constantly courted by cheerleaders: “I’m always doing that—yearning for the unattainable.” He’s actually interested in Rawson; they were hiding their relationship due to small-town homophobia. Gentry participates in a fake relationship with Legend to hide his secret, but her continued infatuation makes her believe that she can somehow will him to love her. Meanwhile, Gentry starts hearing the ghost of Sylvia, who cautions her against the lie of daydreams. Soon, the living and the dead must work together to right past wrongs. Eadie (Mistaken Identity, 2013) brings several topical issues into this novel, sensitively addressing themes of sexual identity, homophobia, and suicide; regarding the latter, Sylvia is shown to be tied to her mother’s house until she resolves her own past conflict—and she sees Gentry as being on the path to a similarly heartbreaking fate. Gentry’s first-person narration is well written and rings true for a teenage girl who frequently has her head in the clouds. Aunt Tom’s Southern witticisms make her a truly standout character; her memorable one-liners include the observation that “it’s so dry the trees are bribing the dogs to whiz on them.”

A solid coming-of-age tale that gets teen turmoil right.

Sixteen-year-old Tuesday Greenwood is a teen rock star in Eadie’s young-adult debut.

Tuesday is a beautiful, talented and obedient child star, ordered around by her bipolar stage mother, Constance, and her agent, Uncle Monty. The two adults are Tuesday’s entire, lonely, rule-filled world until the singer meets Zelda—the daughter of Tuesday’s housekeeper and a fellow teenager—who plots to show Tuesday a good time. Horrified by Tuesday’s sheltered and puritanical life, Zelda compels her to re-examine the way her mother pushes her around, spending her daughter’s money and not allowing her any freedom. The two grow close as Tuesday recognizes how isolated she has become, having only her song lyrics for solace. Under Zelda’s influence, Tuesday begins to fight back, demanding to change her image from a clean-cut role model for tweens to an edgy rocker who sings about harsh, personal conflicts. As Constance plans for Tuesday to sing a new, wholesome song at a prom, Zelda becomes even more important as a supportive friend who encourages the young star to think for herself. The singer then meets Brady Paul, a good-looking boy at the high school where she will be performing, and she realizes that, with Zelda by her side, she can discover all kinds of new ways to get what she wants. Written in a light, easy style, Tuesday’s story of emotional emancipation is one that any teenager can appreciate. Eadie’s work stands out from the usual teen novel: It doesn’t glamorize Tuesday’s celebrity life but highlights the loneliness it brings. The protagonist is a well-drawn, likable heroine whose impossible home life makes her sympathetic.

An insightful but also fun tale about a young celebrity taking charge of her life.