Tenth-grader Lexie works overtime to help launch her father’s new renovation business, hoping that, in exchange, she’ll obtain his blessing to attend the art school of her dreams. But when she catches him in a compromising lie, Lexie must make an impossible choice between appeasing her father and staying true to herself.
“A tender, heartfelt, and intelligent coming-of-age story that celebrates quiet strength and trusting your instincts.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Straight A student, swim team star, talented painter — tenth-grader Lexie has worked hard to become the perfect applicant for Sunridge High’s prestigious fine art program. She’s even got a shot at a swimming scholarship. Everyone she loves is supportive of her application.
Everyone, that is, except her dad.
Lexie’s dad doesn’t see the point of some overpriced art school. He wants Lexie and her brother, Jonah, at home to help launch his new renovation business. The work will cut into Lexie’s already overloaded schedule, but the idea of refusing her dad makes her stomach churn with anxiety. So she agrees to help, just for a little while. If she supports his plan, then he’ll have to support hers, right? It’s only fair.
But Lexie and her dad have different definitions of fair. Soon, Lexie must make an impossible choice between being who her dad wants her to be, and being true to herself.
- A tenth grader helps her dad launch his business, in hopes he’ll give his blessing for her to attend the art school of her dreams; but as work starts to pile up, she’ll have to choose between pleasing others and staying true to herself.
- As Lexie begins to recognize her father’s subtly coercive, emotionally controlling nature, she learns to break out of that pattern and asserts herself with the help of her therapist.
- Not all abuse leaves bruises, but the invisible, insidious emotional trauma inflicted by a parent to a child can last until adulthood. Through Lexie’s story, young teens facing similar abuse can feel validated in their feelings, learn to look out for red flags of dysfunction, and learn what it means to have boundaries in a relationship.
- Influenced by the writings of Marsha Skrypuch, Laurie Halse Anderson, Tamara Ireland Stone, and Ava Dellaira, Azzam infuses an authentic complexity to her characters, masterfully depicting Lexie’s conflicted inner thoughts, her strengths and her heartbreaks.
