Pretty Face

High School Junior Hayley wishes she really belonged in her home town of Santa Monica, California, but she knows nothing could be further from the truth. In a world of tanned, wafer-thin, beach-loving blondes, she's a plump/curvy brunette with skin that burns at the slightest solar exposure and an aversion to wearing a swimsuit in public. Hayley's mother, with the unrestrained zeal of the newly thin, is constantly pressuring Hayley to lose weight. The boy she has a crush on wants her to help him hook up with her best friend. Just when her life seems to ducking under for the third time, Hayley's parents throw her a life-line: they offer to send her to Italy to spend the summer with an old family friend. There, away from the materialism and obsession with appearance that dominates her life in California, Hayley starts to discover who she is on the inside and to learn to like herself enough that someone else might be able to like her, too. Lately it seems that most YA novels feature high school students with an impossible level of maturity and sophistication, so the age-appropriate thoughts and actions of Hayley and her school mates were especially refreshing. A quick, sweet read Pretty Face is perfect for summer.

Sixteen-year-old Hayley dreads hearing the "such a pretty face" compliment. She feels it really isn't a compliment at all, but rather a reminder that she doesn't have a perfectly thin body. Not that she needs another reminder. Living in Santa Monica, California, mere blocks from the beach, Hayley sees bikini-clad beauties everywhere. And then there's her mom, who is obsessed with thinness enough for the both of them and nags her every available moment to exercise and watch her caloric intake. It's enough to make anyone self-conscious, to pinpoint all worries on weight issues. And it's enough for a person to seek comfort, even in the foods that promote these issues, hence a vicious circle. But Hayley tries not to let poundage totally rule her life. Her best friend, Jackie, is always available for fun and IMs. And then there's the cute guy in her class, Drew. Hayley chats with him, makes him laugh with her quick and off-the-wall sense of humor, and finally gets up the nerve to ask him to hang out on an upcoming Saturday. Their rendezvous starts out rough and ends up a disaster. Hayley is heartbroken and instantly turns to a large pizza for comfort. But soon after, her parents make an announcement that will change her life. Deciding they are pressuring her too much, they suggest a trip to Italy for a change of scenery. Her mom's old college roommate now lives there with her family and offers to host Hayley for the summer. Except for missing Jackie, Hayley is psyched to start an adventure, plus a new diet. Right away, Hayley feels immersed in beauty, culture, history and even food. Her hosts welcome her with open arms, offering family, security, acceptance, her own guest cottage and even the freedom to explore and unearth hidden treasures. The Italian lifestyle differs so vastly from her southern California one, and Hayley finds herself adapting and changing, discovering and defining a new self. All around her, she sees beauty in the landscape, the architecture, the people, the culture, the unending flowers and gardens. Eventually, she even begins to see beauty in herself. Mary Hogan grew up near southern California and knows what it's like to be surrounded by what the media considers to be perfect and pretty. She also is aware that there are far more important issues in life than being a size four, and she relays these thoughts magnificently in this charming book. Hayley is hilarious, relatable and completely real, someone with whom readers will connect and bond. The story moves forward from page one, never a dull moment or a dragging paragraph, and the vivid descriptions bring Italy to life. PRETTY FACE is another outstanding accomplishment for Hogan, and fans will be waiting eagerly for more. --- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman, author of FINDING MY LIGHT and THE BLACK POND

Hayley eats to rebel against her Tofu-Queen mother, and for comfort against the many harsh cruelties that a girl who isn't stick thin and lives in Southern California is subjected to. She knows she has a problem, but she doesn't know how to stop. After resisting her mother's numerous and oftentimes humiliating attempts at helping her, her parents decide she needs a change of scenery, and sends her to stay with her mother's college friend, Patrice, in Italy. Hayley resolves not to take up her bad habits with her, but she will learn that sometimes well laid plans don't always go as they are supposed to, and the best thing to do is live your life, at times with unexpected results. Pretty Face reads with an unexpected raw honesty that will strike a chord in nearly every girl. Hayley is self deprecating, but in a way that makes her entirely likable. Her truthful and edgy voice pulls the reader in, from her highly descriptive imagery of Italy, to her insightful reasoning and thoughts on being a teenager today. Though the setting seems unbelievable, this story is unique from start to finish, and full of reality. Hayley's witty, rousing and heartfelt journey to self confidence is one that will be certain to inspire.

Hayley's self esteem plummets even further when the guy she's been crushing on asks her if she thinks her best friend would date him. She leaves the beach, a place that she hates due to all the skinny girls in bikinis, and eats an entire large pepperoni pizza without tasting it. When she arrives back home, her mother can sense there's something wrong, but she's more concerned about her daughter's weight than her emotional health. Then her mother delivers the news: she's sending Hayley to Italy for the summer to live with her old college roommate. She hopes that this trip will help her daughter lose weight. At first, Hayley is hesitant and yet excited about traveling. Part of her wants to lose weight and make her mother happy, but she simply loves food. Once in Italy, Hayley begins to relax and adapt to the Italian way of life. She finds beauty in nature, the old buildings, the delicious food, and, finally, herself. She discovers the freedom to become comfortable in her own skin. While Hayley's weight issues drive her actions, the primary focus of PRETTY FACE deals with finding and appreciating yourself. Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel

Sixteen years old Hayley detests life in Southern California as she is not the model of the Beach Boys being thirty pounds overweight or as she prefers to think of it as six inches too short. Her mom is always on her case over her bowling ball belly, but worse she gives her a digital scale that will not lie; thus every morning the thug inside that scale disses Hayley. The worst insult is being told she has a PRETTY FACE, which is a kind slur implying she is fat. She likes Drew Wyler, but on D-Day at the movies she learns he likes her BFF Jackie. Hayley hides hurts like that one with humor. Her parents heeding the advice of her therapist send Hayley to Umbria, Italy where her mom's friend Patrice, don't call her Patty any longer, lives. Hayley is excited to escape summer torture where she is a beached whale. In Italy she eats real pizza without guilt and enjoys her own cottage and the local males lining up to meet her. She even falls in love with a teen who calls her his "bella facia" as he thinks she is the PERFECT GIRL for him even if she lives an ocean and content away. Haley is an amusing lead protagonist whose commentaries question the American image that thin is in but at fast food places. She is a terrific character who uses humor to conceal her distress. Although her adjustment from unwanted "social abstinence" to the bella of the ball seems too easy, young teen readers will her turning into a social butterfly. Harriet Klausner