About the book: For sixteen-year-old Charlotte Reynolds, aka Charlie, being raised by a single dad and three older brothers has its perks. She can outrun, outscore, and outwit every boy she knows—including her longtime neighbor and honorary fourth brother, Braden. But when it comes to being a girl, Charlie doesn't know the first thing about anything. So when she starts working at chichi boutique to pay off a speeding ticket, she finds herself in a strange new world of makeup, lacy skirts, and BeDazzlers. Even stranger, she's spending time with a boy who has never seen her tear it up in a pickup game.
To cope with the stress of faking her way through this new reality, Charlie seeks late-night refuge in her backyard, talking out her problems with Braden by the fence that separates them. But their Fence Chats can't solve Charlie's biggest problem: she's falling for Braden. Hard. She knows what it means to go for the win, but if spilling her secret means losing him for good, the stakes just got too high.
My review: This book is a really well done young adult novel. I enjoyed reading Charlie's story, I liked how she was such a tomboy, especially in the beginning. But as she was working for Linda at Linda's Bazaar, she starts to change. Linda practically insists on helping Charlie to dress better and as time goes on, she starts to model make up too. I love the way that she hides these things from her brothers and next door neighbor Braden, because she knows that she will be teased mercilessly. A big part of Charlie's insecurity and not knowing how a young lady should act came from her mother dying when Charlie was really young, and that is a big theme of this book. Charlie thinks things happened one way and when she learns the whole story, it kind of throws her for a loop. During all of this Braden is really her sounding board and he helps her through everything. And little by little Charlie starts to fall in love with him. Which really becomes a problem for her, how do you fall in love with one of your brother's best friends, who is almost like a brother to you?
This book is really cute! I loved that the whole thing doesn't revolve around romance and that Charlie is a really down to earth character who doesn't care about clothes or makeup. This is a perfect book teens to read!
I was sent an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.Labels: clean ya, Kasie West
