Notes on a Near-Life Experience

Mia's seemingly perfect and happy family has dissolved following her parent's divorce. Mia feels ghost-like as she tries to ignore the range of emotions she is feeling and finds that the divorce touches everything in her life, good and bad. With the help of a hip therapist, a strong personality, and an ultimately loving family, she begins to heal.

I thought this was a nicely done debut novel. While it deals with the somewhat commonplace teen issues of divorce and first boyfriend, the characters were fresh and believable. I was disappointed by the overt pop culture references (I feel these usually date a book unnecessarily) and I think Birdsall is still developing a voice as an author of teen lit. I will give this a Maybe leaning toward yay.