ABSOLUTELY MAYBE by Lisa Yee

Run! Don't walk! to your nearest bookstore and pre-order this book. ABSOLUTELY MAYBE is fantastic!

Maybelline, "Maybe" to her friends, is living above her mother's Charm School. She is surrounded by glamour and future pageant hopefuls, but she feels anything but glamorous. Depending on the day, Maybe's hair color might be red, green, or blue thanks to endless boxes of unsweetened jello. Her baggy black T-shirts, her goth eyeliner, and dark lipstick have her mother frantic. That is when her mother isn't busy trawling for her next husband.

Maybe's best friends, Ted and Hollywood, are the only things that keep her going. Their support helps her tolerate her mother's boyfriends turned step-fathers until the most recent, Jake, makes an attempt to turn Maybe into more than an innocent step-daughter. When her mother sides with her pervert husband-to-be, Maybe decides it is time to follow through on her life-long dream to find her mysterious biological father. Ted and Hollywood join in the adventure as they head to L.A. in search of all their dreams.

Their arrival in California is followed by terrific opportunities for Ted and Hollywood, but not so much for Maybe. After weeks of living homeless, she finally searches out her mother's husband 2/4, the only one who made Maybe feel anyone ever cared for her. At least now she has a place to call home while she continues her search for the father she never knew.

What makes this an excellent read is the talent of author Lisa Yee. Her characters draw readers right into their lives. You'll root for some and curse others, but no matter what, they'll make you anxious to turn to the next page and sad when you arrive at the last one. I can only hope that Maybe returns someday to let readers know about the next chapter in her awesome life.