Anyone who has seen an episode of Toddlers and Tiaras or Dance Moms knows that stage parents can get out of control. There is little so intense as a parent’s ambitions for their child. In Jessica Martinez’s Virtuosity, Carmen is a violin prodigy with a stage mom to beat all stage moms. Diana, a former [...]

Tags: competition, dating, identity, mothers and daughters, music, secrets
Filed under: Book Review

Pearl (aka Bean) and Henry are the best of friends. Having grown up as social outcasts in a small town, they have only each other to turn to when times get tough. For Bean and Henry, times are pretty much always tough. As the children of eccentric single mothers, life is often messy and complicated. [...]

Tags: coming of age, death, family problems, friendship, homosexuality, mothers and daughters, secrets, small town
Filed under: Book Review

Meg Rosenthal needs a fresh start after the death of her husband. She gave up her career as an artist when her daughter Sally was born, but when she is left with virtually nothing except for a barely functional car, she finds a job teaching folklore and English at a small boarding school for young [...]

Tags: boarding schools, death, fairy tales, mothers and daughters, murder investigation, secrets
Filed under: Book Review

Things in Delilah Hannaford’s life have a tendency to fall apart. She used to be a good student, but she can’t seem to keep it together anymore. Her “boyfriend” isn’t much of a boyfriend. And her mother refuses to discuss the fight that divided their family eight years ago. Falling apart, it seems, is a [...]

Tags: death, family problems, grief, mothers and daughters, romance, secrets, summer
Filed under: Book Review

Elle is a loner. She doesn’t need people. Which is a good thing, because she’s on her own: she had to move into her own apartment so her mother’s boyfriend won’t have to deal with her. Then she meets Frank, the guy who lives next door. He’s older and has a girlfriend, but Elle can’t [...]

Tags: friendship, homosexuality, mothers and daughters, moving, transgender
Filed under: Book Review