A young adult novel about a smart loner girl's last summer before college, this book felt substantial while I was reading it, but ended up a teen romance. Not that a teen romance has to be a bad thing.
Auden's parents are self-absorbed academics. Historically she's tried to please them, but this time their behavior is so egregious she can't ignore it, but she can replicate it with her own burgeoning romance. D'oh!
The good news is that Auden, whose original plan for the summer involved studying ahead for her fall classes (i.e., reading her economics text book), develops her first female friendships, in the unlikely location of her stepmother's trendy clothing store. The girls are pretty awesome, especially Maggie who has to forgive a pretty serious transgression on Auden's part before making friends.
The cover I posted is awful, btw. Don't let it scare you off.