Pretty

Everyone thinks Sophie's life is a little bit easier because she's pretty.  She always has the perfect outfit and the perfect fashion writer mother. 

But she has a secret no one knows, not even her best friends.  Her mother is an alcoholic.  She spends her days drinking, and Sophie is never who she'll find when she gets home from school.  It could be the happy easy going drunk or the raging woman who hates everything about her daughter and her life.  She drinks until she passes out every night, and Sophies lies awake in bed waiting for the sound of her mother collapsing in bed if it's a good night. 

After a particularly bad night, Aunt Amara shows up at the house saying her mom is going away for a while.  Life with Aunt Amara is different.  There are homecooked meals and homework at the dining room table.  Sophie both enjoys the attention and resents the loss of her freedom. 

While Sophie struggles to assimilate the changes at home, she also struggles to make peace with her friends at school.  She is navigating insecurities and the attention of a boy she may or may not like. 

Living with Aunt Amara is making her see her relationships in a new light, and she starts to have the courage to admit the truth and to see herself as more than just pretty. 

This novel by Justin Sayre is a must read, but it will have special appeal to African-American and biracial students.  Highly recommended.