Easy - Softcover

Hoffmann, Kerry Cohen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1416914269 ISBN 13: 9781416914266

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2007

Synopsis

Easy. At the ripe young age of fourteen Jessica has discovered that getting the attention she wants is just that -- easy. It's not the attention of a divorced mother who spends all of her time grieving over a broken marriage. Nor is it that of a father with a new girlfriend who's moving on with his life. It's certainly not the attention of a clueless older sister or a best friend since grade school who still acts like she's in grade school. No. For some reason being noticed by her friends and family seems to have become almost impossible. Boys -- and men -- are a different matter altogether. With the right clothes and attitude, Jessica realizes that she can get all the male attention she wants.

What she doesn't realize is how easy it is to get more than you're ready for.

In this compelling and often harrowing novel for teen readers, first-time author Kerry Cohen Hoffmann delves into the mind of a teenage girl as she attempts to replace the shifting relationships with friends and family with sexual exploration. With candid storytelling rooted in years of personal experience, Mrs. Hoffmann offers a searing look at how easy it is to take a wrong turn in search for the right answers.

About this title

About the Author

Kerry Cohen Hoffmann is a psychotherapist who works with teens and their families. She received her MFA in creative writing from the University of Oregon and an MA in counseling psychology. A mother of two, she is a native of New Jersey but makes her home in Portland, Oregon.

From School Library Journal

Grade 8-10–With the hindsight provided by two years' maturity, Jessica looks back on the year her parents divorced, her mother withdrew, her father moved in with his girlfriend, and she herself slipped into sexual activity that she almost immediately regretted. Hoffmann vividly depicts how a 12-year-old's confused desperation, need for comfort, and inability to know when or how to stop self-destructive behavior lead her down a perilous path. Even well-meaning friends and a concerned teacher have difficulty breaking through to her. It's almost an accident when an observant neighbor alerts her mother to a suspicious stranger–Jessica's lover–helping the girl to end that relationship. A pregnancy scare gives her additional reason to reflect on and question what she's been up to. In the end, she has the luck and support that enable her to change course. The writing is realistic, insightful, and nonjudgmental. This book can provide teens with some understanding as to why people might make risky choices while offering readers the assurance that bad decisions need not be irrevocable. –Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Public Library, NY
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About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1416914269
• ISBN 13: 9781416914266
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176