Reviews written by Kimberly Pauley

Pooja Makhijanis Under Her Skin is an excellent non-fiction look at the complex way girls experience race in America. With short essays from women from all walks of life and all different races, this is a stunning and thought-provoking book. I dont know if I could think...

Are you crafty? Handy with a hammer? Have an itch to re-design your room into a space that youd actually like to hang out in? Clea Hantmans got your number and all the detailed instructions you could want in I Wanna Re-Do My Room. And the...

This is an entirely different kind of career book by two guys who decided that all the standard career paths just werent for them. So what did they do about? They didnt just buckle down and give up no, they set out on a roadtrip to find out what...

This is a sweet little book at least in the beginning about one girl (Roxanne) growing up. The book follows her all the way from 13 to womanhood (in her 30s). Told in chapter-length vignettes, each little bit is a story of its own. We...

The Perfect Distance is not your average girl-loves-horses book. In fact, horses are really secondary here in this story of a girl growing up and finding herself. Francie has been around horses pretty much her entire life. Her father, who is Mexican, works as a stable manager for West Hills&which...

Mimi Schulman is back in the saddle again&and ready to get off! Shes had enough of social climbing (and scandal) to last her a lifetime, but life has other plans for her. Even though shes back in the good graces of the Baldwin Elite (theyve mostly forgiven her and shes...

Nothing to Lose is an incredibly heart-wrenching book because of the very strong story and believable protagonist, but also because of the all-too-true story of abuse that could have been ripped from the headlines of any newspaper across the world. Michael Daye has been on the run for a year,...

I honestly wasnt sure what to expect from Samurai Shortstop. Was it going to be one of those Angels in the Outfield type books? Or more like a Matt Christopher title -- The Kid Who Only Hit Homers? When I received my review copy and took a look at the...

It always makes me a tad bit nervous to review a book when I consider the author a friend. Happily, all the authors I know are excellent writers (lucky me!), so Ive got little to worry about. Nova and the Charmed Three, the fifth book in the Star Sisterz series,...

Whats the ultimate sin a college-bound teenager can commit? How about ditching college to pursue their dreams? Look over your shoulder&yeah, thats your parent twitching in horror. In Bass Ackwards and Belly Up, four girls find themselves with some decisions to make right before going off...

Nothing But the Truth For once, heres a book that I could just about completely identify with, even though my half comes from China instead of Taiwan. Patty Ho is a HAPA (half-asian, half-white) with a somewhat overbearing and very academically-focused all-Taiwanese mom. Pattys not at all...

I like funny. Funny is great. Funny, unlike tear-jerking dramas, doesnt leave you feeling wrung out like a washcloth or with a pile of soppy tissues by your feet. Not that theres not a fair share of drama in Drawing a Blank&after all, there are toilet swirlies, cold-freezer storage-prisons, daggers...

Id been hearing for ages how the new big thing in adolescent lit was the Latina influence, but I hadnt seen a whole lot of evidence of it until Malin Alegrias Estrellas Quinceanera. This is a delightful book that any teen (especially girls) can relate to, even if they arent...

Annemarie Wilcox (or Shug, as her mother calls herafter her favorite character from The Color Purple) is twelve and right on the brink of womanhood, even though she isnt really ready to be there. Shes decided shes in the throes of her first love and the object of her affection...

This is another one of those books that has sat in my review pile for way, way too long. Its a great book (and, incidentally, shares a name with my cat). Im sure many of you out there have already discovered it, but for those of you that havent, heres...