Absolutely Maybe

Lisa Yee's first book for young adults is a terrific coming-of-age story. Maybelline Chestnut (named after her mother's favorite makeup) leaves home with her two best friends on a road trip from Florida to California, searching for her real father. Along the way, she finds adventure, challenges, really great tacos, new friends, and a place to call home. Fans of Lisa Yee's books for middle grade readers who have grown a little older will be thrilled with this new title. It has all the same gems of humor along with the heartbreak that goes along with being a teenager and setting out to find your place in the world.

Absolutely Maybe was hard for me to put down once I picked it up. The characters in it are as colorful as Maybelline Chestnut's Kool-Aid-dyed hair, the drama high, and the humor prevalent from beginning to end. I fell in love with Maybe from the first page. She's an easy to root for underdog. Her tears became my tears, and her triumphs my joy. At the beginning of the book, Maybe is stuck in an impossible situation. Her mother's latest fiancé attempts to rape Maybe, but Maybe's alcoholic mother takes his side over hers. School is no safe haven either, as her mother's doted on charm-school students ambush Maybe and beat her senseless in the girls' bathroom. So Maybe does the only thing she can under the circumstances: she runs away. Fortunately, she has two best friends to help her on her journey across the country to California, where Maybe discovers there's more to her than meets the eye. The one weak spot for me in this book is the too-neat ending. I would not have been so forgiving of Maybe's mother, but I know there are other readers who will prefer the ending just the way it is. In any case, if you like books that make you laugh and cry and fall in love with the heroine, you're going to absolutely love Absolutely Maybe.

I love Lisa Yee's new book Absolutely Maybe. I was reeled in hook, line, and sinker in the first couple of pages. The characters are quirky, talented, and interesting and you just want to know what happens to them. Maybe is 16 and living with her alcoholic mother, who likes weddings more than being married. Life with mom and the latest fiancé becomes unbearable. Thankfully her best friend Ted, an adopted Thai American, agrees to flee across the country with her as Maybe tries to find her real father. Hollywood/Daniel, another friend, just happens to be heading to LA for film school and off the three friends go. Maybe needs her friends but she learns to rely on herself even more. Maybe realizes that her mother wasn't totally hopeless and she had learned a few valuable life skills as she uses all of her brains and street smarts to start a new life in California. Yee's Maybe tackles some big issues that many teens encounter finding strength and courage to meet the challenges she faces in trying to bring her family back together.

Absolutely Maybe, the new novel by Lisa Yee, is a wonderful addition to her writing repertoire. I read it very fast, in less than 24 hours, and the language is very simple to comprehend. Maybe Chestnut has a weird name, cool hair, and a charming personality. Only she didn't go to charm school. Her mother, a drop-dead gorgeous "serial marryer" owns a charm school where she trains girls to compete in beauty pageants. Maybe doesn't want to be like all those snobby and mean girls; she is her own person. Maybe doesn't know who her father is, mostly because her mother won't tell her. So along with her friends Hollywood, a movie-making USC student, and Ted, an adopted momma's boy, she goes to Los Angeles, where she believes her real father lives as a big time movie producer. Maybe struggles to find a place to belong when both of her friends find their place, but with the help of Husband #2 and 4, Maybe learns the value of family, friends, forgivness, and how to make awesome tacos. The characters were engaging in the book, and the plot equally. My only qualm is that we do not know what happens for sure at the end; it is indefinite. I also wanted to know which woman Sammy chose in the end, Chessy or Willow. Overall though this was a wonderful book with sparkling conversation and wit (Teddy was HILARIOUS!) and I will definitely recommend this book to friends when it comes out i

Absolutely Maybe is an absolutely delightful novel that belongs on everyone's must read list. Far from a run-of-the-mill coming of age novel, Maybe is an entrancing character who dyes her hair with Kool-Aid, runs away to Hollywood and spends the summer working on a taco truck. As moving as Because of Winn-Dixie, Absolutely Maybe is an impossible to put down read. Expect to see this one on the book award nomination lists! Note to parents: Suitable for ages 11 and up, no agendas.