Mrs Perfect

As a young California girl growing up in a blue collar neighborhood, Taylor Young dreamed of being popular, beautiful, and acquiring a wardrobe to die for. Not to mention marrying a handsome, successful man and living happily ever after in a gorgeous house with three wonderful children. Now, at 36, Taylor has reached the pinnacle of her dreams, but is it all about to unravel? As the new school year approaches, Taylor prepares herself for playing the perfect alpha mom: organizing class activities, fund-raising, and chairing the school auction. But the horror! Her archrival, bohemian mom Marta Zinsser, is named Head Room Mom of Taylor's daughter's fifth grade class. As tensions rise at committee meetings and school activities, the two rivals seem to be destined for a final confrontation. But as Taylor plans her next move, she is floored by a more serious blow at home-her husband has been secretly unemployed for the past six months. With her posh lifestyle crumbling, Taylor struggles to maintain her alpha image-but could Marta, who cares little about appearances, be her only true friend?

THEIR LOVE WILL BREAK ALL THE RULES. The apocalyptic after-prom fight with Josh resulted in the destruction of Kate’s phone and the severance of her one and only link to Ecto, her virtual boyfriend. Ecto is presumed lost for good but, unbeknown to Kate, is trapped inside an RPG. Weeks later, Kate finally summons the courage to confess to her ma the true events leading to the fateful prom night. The next thing she knows, she’s stuck in an Internet addiction rehab facility called Camp Unplugged. There, she meets all sorts of characters: Ms Blanca a.k.a. Ms. Perfect: the perfectionist camp counsellor Yssy: Kate’s fashionista and caffeine-junkie roomie Nathan: a handsome and brooding gamer With Kate’s debut (18th birthday) drawing close, will she allow herself a glimmer of hope and attempt to break out? But who can she trust with her escape plan? And why was Kate sent to Camp Unplugged anyway? The answer lies in a mysterious past relationship of her ma.

To twelve-year-old Molly Nathans, perfect is: —The number four —The tip of a newly sharpened No. 2 pencil —A crisp white pad of paper —Her neatly aligned glass animal figurines What’s not perfect is Molly’s mother leaving the family to take a faraway job with the promise to return in one year. Molly knows that promises are sometimes broken, so she hatches a plan to bring her mother home: Win the Lakeville Middle School Poetry Slam Contest. The winner is honored at a fancy banquet with white tablecloths. Molly is sure her mother would never miss that. Right...? But as time passes, writing and reciting slam poetry become harder. Actually, everything becomes harder as new habits appear, and counting, cleaning, and organizing are not enough to keep Molly's world from spinning out of control. In this fresh-voiced debut novel, one girl learns there is no such thing as perfect.