What a debut novel Joan B. Flood has offered!

Carly is a well-adjusted teenager with a “big brother” every girl deserves. Alas, due to her father’s job, she not only had to move around the country but had difficulties fitting in because her father’s job entails laying off the parents of her fellow pupils. Now they have moved to Astoria, and not only is there the prospect of a more extended stay, but her father has a job with a different goal.

But fitting in is not easy as it looks – Carly makes fast friends with Jane, Corinne … and there is Tommy Mack. Old histories and bad blood interfere, and not everything and everyone is what it or they look(s) like.

I loved how Joan, an Irish writer with a gift of storytelling who now lives in Vancouver, Canada, lets the story unhurriedly unfold.

There is not much unlikely drama, nothing eccentric, only the usual “stuff” and the normal challenges of school, friendships and sports. Among the “stuff” is Carly’s discovery of her attraction to girls. It is taken in stride since her aunt is already a role model. Being gay is not world-shattering as it should be.

Carly is a typical teenager, vulnerable and open-minded. And she realizes what every well-adjusted teenager needs to learn: „People could change; they could be good and bad simultaneously.

They could be seen as bad or good for the same thing, depending on who was doing the looking. … Besides, people must be able to change, clean up, and learn. Otherwise, what was the point?“ This is one great message of the book with a positive view of life.

An excellent read for any teenager, boy or girl, and for any adult who might have wished for such a book in their formative years.