Loved it!
A sweet, coming-of-age tale of Sandy, whose overbearing mother feels is too fat, and how she discovers herself - and how lovely she actually is - in spite of criticism from her mother and shallow, conflicting values in the media. Sandy is a down-to-earth, very likeable teenager, and her journey of self-discovery, from taking a belly-dancing class to learning Yiddish from an elderly lady friend, is nicely done. Her blossoming romance with the drummer from her dancing class, Sumir, is refreshing in that he likes her for who she is. Every supporting character is finely etched, with great sympathy, including Melody, the former flower-child mother of Sandy's best friend Pam. A warm, very genuine, very uplifting little novel, lightyears above the schlocky 'teen' novels out there now.
