Where You'll Find Me by Natasha Friend

Where You'll Find Me by Natasha Friend
"The first month of school, thirteen-year-old Anna Collette finds herself...
DUMPED by her best friend Dani, who suddenly wants to spend eighth grade "hanging out with different people."
DESERTED by her mom, who's in the hospital recovering from a suicide attempt.
TRAPPED in a house with her dad, a new baby sister, and a stepmother young enough to wear her Delta Delta Delta sweatshirt with pride.
STUCK at a lunch table with Shawna the Eyebrow Plucker and Sarabeth the Irish Stepper because she has no one else to sit with.

But what if all isn't lost? What if Anna's mom didn't exactly mean to leave her? What if Anna's stepmother is cooler than she thought? What if the misfit lunch table isn't such a bad fit after all? With help from some unlikely sources, including a crazy girl-band talent show act, Anna just may find herself on the road to okay."- summary from Amazon

This was my first novel by Natasha Friend, but it won't be my last. She does a wonderful job writing from Anna's perspective and how a young kid would think about the crazy things going on in her life. Friend writes in a conversational but deep tone that really fits the voice of a 13 year old, and helps keep the novel flowing along easily. I loved seeing Anna with her new friends Shawna and Sarabeth, learning that there's more to them than meets the eye, as well as the slow realization of what a more normal life looks like and how bad it really was living with her mother as she was.

Overall, a fantastic read and one that I highly recommend.

FTC: Received e-galley from Netgalley. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.