JULEP O’TOOLE

Julep O’Toole is back and she wants grown-up privileges like choosing her own clothes. She can’t believe that a sparkly T-shirt with a dazzling “hot girl,” that her aunt, the llama farmer bought for her, ignites her mother’s ire. And why can’t she lie to her piano teacher to get a day off from lessons to spend time with her best friend? After all, Bernadette’s divorced Mom and Dad get her everything she wants, even a cell phone, but Julep’s Mom and Dad resounding “no” feels like it reverberates through her whole life. Trueit explores the typical 11-year-old’s angst in a steady-loving nuclear family where life goes on and important family issues come first: a healthy environment for everyone’s mental and physical well-being, including sickly brother’s health, Dad’s preparation for a new career and Julep’s need to keep commitments. This realistic, well-drawn combination of scene, character and plot strongly reveals the heart of a tween coming to grips with herself, her world and her family. (Fiction. 9-11)