ABSOLUTELY MAYBE by Lisa Yee

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Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
Date: February 2009
Page Count: 288
Reading Level: Ages 12-UP
    BOOK DESCRIPTION: Meet Maybelline Mary Katherine Mary Ann Chestnut, named for two Miss Americas and her mother Chessy's favorite brand of mascara. Chessy teaches the students in her charm school her Seven Select Rules for Young Ladies, but she won't tell Maybe who her real father is -- or protect her from her latest scuzzball boyfriend. So Maybe hitches a ride to California with her friends Hollywood and Thammasat Tantipinichwong Schneider (aka Ted) -- and what she finds there is funny, sad, true, and inspiring . . . vintage Lisa Yee.

    MY REVIEW: ABSOLUTELY MAYBE is a book I borrowed from the library last year and didn't have a chance to finish reading. I took it out again last week and I'm glad I did. It is charming. Yee's story flows by without my realizing it. Her characters are fully realized and Maybe's story is alluring.

    After an altercation with a soon-to-be stepfather, Maybe leaves home with her two friends, Hollywood and Ted. Hollywood, a year ahead of the others, is a movie buff and has just graduated high school. He's on his way to California for a summer program at his college before Maybe informs him of his traveling companions. Once they arrive the two hangers-on soon learn they can't stay in Hollywood's dorm room, especially not after his new room mate shows up.

    Even though it is summer vacation, this trip turns out to be more a voyage of self discovery, not only for Maybe, but also for her friends. Maybe meets up with her ex-stepfather, takes a job on a taco truck, and discovers she is the subject of her friend's award-winning documentary. By the story's end life has changed for Maybe and everyone close to her.

    My favorite part of the novel is this passage:
    "I take a breath. The salty air gives me the nudge I need before plunging in. I thought that girl on the screen was really messed up. But whoever made the film believes in her. I thought, Why the hell did Hollywood do this to me? and then I realized he didn't do any of this. I did it all to myself. He just happened to be there, and he's my friend, no matter what."
    The beauty of this story is the reader may not get all of the power and meaning hidden in scenes like the one above, but it will happen. And when it does, the moment of reckoning will put a smile on your face. This is absolutely good storytelling.

    RATING: ++++

    SERIES: No.

    FOR FANS OF: Contemporary literary fiction.

    REVIEWED BY: Laurie


    BOOK SOURCE: Library.

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