Lisa Yee makes her YA debut with this hilarious novel about a charm-school dropout who becomes a drop-dead charmer on a quest for her father in Cal...
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Feb 26, 2009
edh
rated it: 
Lisa Yee takes a departure from her usual middle grade fare to offer a more mature look at adolescence in Absolutely Maybe. 15 year old Maybe (short for Maybelline) lives in Kissimmee, FL with her mother, Chessy. Chessy is a former beauty queen who now runs a charm school for aspiring pageant winners, and everything she cares about is anathema to Maybe, who would rather wear kohl eyeliner and purple lipstick and Hanes beefy-ts every day than a crown. Chessy's on-again, off-again relationships
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Mar 27, 2009
laaaaames
rated it: 
So I read this great blog post about the rewrites Lisa Yee did to this book before it was published: http://chavelaque.blogspot.com/2009/02/b...
It actually reminded me a lot of the rewrites I did to my own book, so I was all "HURRAH NOW I WILL READ HER FINISHED PRODUCT AND REJOICE FOR HER!"
Sadly, I am not impressed.
Listen, it doesn't suck or anything. It's just very "meh". There are way too many cliches for my taste, I didn't actually feel l More...
It actually reminded me a lot of the rewrites I did to my own book, so I was all "HURRAH NOW I WILL READ HER FINISHED PRODUCT AND REJOICE FOR HER!"
Sadly, I am not impressed.
Listen, it doesn't suck or anything. It's just very "meh". There are way too many cliches for my taste, I didn't actually feel l More...
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Feb 14, 2009
Jenn
rated it:
Pretty disappointing, because I like Yee's middle grade novels so much. In a lot of ways this book reads very similar to them, except that the protagonist is older and has more serious problems. And yet, it doesn't feel like, as a character, she is that much more evolved or mature - she certainly didn't feel like a sixteen or seventeen year old to me. I also felt like she - Maybe - is a character to whom things happen and reacts, but does very little proactively. She's really passive when left
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May 12, 2009
GirlwiththeBraids
rated it:
Mabelline had a father once, she knows that much. Her mother never explained anything except when she was under the influence, even then it was only one or two things. Maybe’s mother, Chessy, had a ‘fling’ with a talent searcher years back and now she lives with Maybe in the apartment above her charm school. Charming, isn’t it? After living with six different stepfathers, Maybe wants to meet her biological father. With only a picture and a first name as clues, Maybe sets off for Los Angeles with
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Dec 30, 2008
Jennifer
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Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com
ABSOLUTELY MAYBE by Lisa Yee is due out in February 2009. It is her first YA/teen novel - and readers will not want to miss it.
The main character is Maybelline, "Maybe" to her friends. She is currently living above her mother's Charm School. She is surrounded by glamour and future pageant hopefuls, but she feels anything but glamorous. Depending on the day, Maybe's hair color might be red More...
ABSOLUTELY MAYBE by Lisa Yee is due out in February 2009. It is her first YA/teen novel - and readers will not want to miss it.
The main character is Maybelline, "Maybe" to her friends. She is currently living above her mother's Charm School. She is surrounded by glamour and future pageant hopefuls, but she feels anything but glamorous. Depending on the day, Maybe's hair color might be red More...
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Apr 13, 2011
Charles
rated it:
Absolutely Maybe by Lisa Yee is definitely a girl book. I meet the author at a conference in Miami and she has a personality that goes on and on like the Energy Bunny. So I decided to by her book and see what its like to read one. Well, I can't say enough about the book. The characters are colorful. The main character's name is Maybelline, she was named after her mothers favorite brand of mascara, but everyone calls her Maybe, she is a teenage girl who failed charm school, which is owned by her
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Feb 06, 2011
Jewelz
rated it: 
Maybelline Mary Katherine Mary Ann Chestnut, Maybe for short, is named after her mother's favorite makeup brand, Maybelline, which Maybe hates as well as her mom's charm school. When her mother's soon-to-be seventh husband tries to rape Maybe, her mother walks in on them and blames Maybe. Tired of her mother's put downs and parade of husbands, Maybe decides to go find her biological father. She knows he was in show business and her only other clue is an old photograph with the name Gunner. She h
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Jan 08, 2011
Cindy
rated it:
There is a need for half stars: 4.5 for this one.
Maybe is Chessy's poor excuse for a daughter, in Chessy's opinion. Maybe's mom is a beauty pageant queen herself and runs a business to help young girls participating in beauty pageants. So when Maybe is the complete opposite of a beauty queen, her mom always has a way to remind Maybe of this, but never in a nice way.
So when Maybe's mom is on husband-to-be # too many for Maybe, and Chessy chooses the "scuzzball" over More...
Maybe is Chessy's poor excuse for a daughter, in Chessy's opinion. Maybe's mom is a beauty pageant queen herself and runs a business to help young girls participating in beauty pageants. So when Maybe is the complete opposite of a beauty queen, her mom always has a way to remind Maybe of this, but never in a nice way.
So when Maybe's mom is on husband-to-be # too many for Maybe, and Chessy chooses the "scuzzball" over More...
Aug 17, 2010
Margaryta
rated it:
This book was hilarious. I know it's not the best book out there but hey, if you want to read a book that you'll enjoy because it's modern, and doesn't follow all the outlines of a sappy chic-lit book this is the book to pick.
Maybelline (aka. Maybe) is a character I found it very easy to relate to. She bears with what life gives her and goes by day after day putting up with all the garbage. I respect that kind of character that has a backbone, not like one of those LA girly-girls tha More...
Maybelline (aka. Maybe) is a character I found it very easy to relate to. She bears with what life gives her and goes by day after day putting up with all the garbage. I respect that kind of character that has a backbone, not like one of those LA girly-girls tha More...
Jun 02, 2010
Breeyah30x
rated it:
This book went over my expectations. It's about a 16 year old girl named Maybeline Mary Katherine Mary Ann Chestnut .15 year old Maybellinelives in Kissimmee, FL with her mother, Chessy. Chessy is a former beauty queen who now runs a charm school for aspiring pageant winners, and everything she cares about is anathema to Maybe, who would rather wear kohl eyeliner and purple lipstick and Hanes beefy-ts every day than a crown. i think chessy affects maybelline in different ways because chessy More...
Jul 03, 2009
Barky
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Nov 22, 2010
Shawnasea
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I think the thing I liked the most about this book was that the character was dealing with a LOT of serious issues and she handled it all in stride with a great sense of humor and optimism. There's nothing that annoys me more than a YA book where the whole main conflict is that the kid has something very ordinary happen to them but they overreact to it to the point of getting depressed, contemplating suicide or whatever. Yeah, I do think that Maybe doesn't always think everything out very well,
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Aug 31, 2009
E.
rated it:
Lisa Yee's first young adult novel begins in Florida, where Maybe - short for Maybelline Mary Anne Mary Katherine Chestnut (she's named for her mother's favorite mascara and two beauty queens) - has finally had it. She's sick of her mom, who dotes on her charm school students. She's sick of her mom's students, who pick on her in school. And she's sick of her mom's fiancee (who will be her jillionth stepdad) who has finally overstepped his bounds in a serious way. Worst of all, Maybe's mom blames
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Apr 20, 2010
Kimberly
rated it: 
3.5 stars
First off, I just loved Maybe's friends, Ted and Hollywood. I thought they were pretty awesome. Just so you know.
The story is about Maybelline Chestnut, aka Maybe. Her mother Chessy runs a charm school and marries and drinks as a hobby. But when Maybe is almost raped, and Chessy chooses her fiance over Maybe, Maybe decides to run away to California in search of her biological (unknown) father with her best friends.
When in California, Ted and Hollywood More...
First off, I just loved Maybe's friends, Ted and Hollywood. I thought they were pretty awesome. Just so you know.
The story is about Maybelline Chestnut, aka Maybe. Her mother Chessy runs a charm school and marries and drinks as a hobby. But when Maybe is almost raped, and Chessy chooses her fiance over Maybe, Maybe decides to run away to California in search of her biological (unknown) father with her best friends.
When in California, Ted and Hollywood More...
Jan 14, 2012
BookChic
rated it:
I enjoyed reading this book, but I don't think it's something I'd really recommend buying as a hardcover; it's more of a library book. It was an intriguing story and was an easy, fun read but not much more than that. Yee's writing was compelling and kept me reading, which is great, but the characterizations really lacked something. It felt like the plot was just one event after another without any sort of emotional connection or reflection. Everything moved by too quickly and so the book felt ru
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Dec 08, 2011
Erin
rated it:
Absolutely Maybe
Lisa Yee
What would it take to make someone want to run away from home? Maybelline (named after her mother's favorite makeup brand) runs when she is accused of something by her mother that is so awful most of us couldn't even say it out loud. Maybe (her nickname) possibly has the most monstrous mother in fiction—a former beauty queen named Chessy Chestnut who does nothing but insult and pester Maybe all day long, and who goes through marriages like a whale goes through More...
Lisa Yee
What would it take to make someone want to run away from home? Maybelline (named after her mother's favorite makeup brand) runs when she is accused of something by her mother that is so awful most of us couldn't even say it out loud. Maybe (her nickname) possibly has the most monstrous mother in fiction—a former beauty queen named Chessy Chestnut who does nothing but insult and pester Maybe all day long, and who goes through marriages like a whale goes through More...
Feb 20, 2009
T.V and Book Addict
rated it:
Absolutely Maybe is such a great read that will have you entertained until you have reached the last page..when you get there you'll be sad because it's over like this --> :(
Maybelline, named after her mother's favorite mascara, is a teenager who runs away from home after an incident happens (horrible just horrible) having to do with her beauty queen mom and her soon to be seventh husband.
Maybe (awesome nickname), her best bud Ted, a short little dude with a great personality, and More...
Maybelline, named after her mother's favorite mascara, is a teenager who runs away from home after an incident happens (horrible just horrible) having to do with her beauty queen mom and her soon to be seventh husband.
Maybe (awesome nickname), her best bud Ted, a short little dude with a great personality, and More...
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Jul 18, 2010
Anne
rated it:
I loved Maybe (Maybelline Mary Katherine Mary Ann Chestnut)and rooted for her all the way. Daughter of a woman who runs a charm school and is about to marry for the seventh time, Maybe feels unloved, misunderstood, and (after the newest stepfather-to-be tries to rape her), unsupported and unprotected. With her two best friends (strong, memorable characters in their own right), Maybe embarks on a road trip and ends up in California where she hopes to find her birth father.
I loved Mayb More...
I loved Mayb More...
Jul 05, 2009
Mary
rated it:
Maybe is Maybelline Chestnut. She lives with her mother, Chessy, and Chessy's endless string of husbands, but she has never lived with her father. Chessy won't tell who Maybe's father is. When Chessy's latest fiance, Jake, assaults Maybe one night when Chessy is passed out drunk, Chessy interrupts and blames Maybe. Maybe decides to go cross-country with her best friends Hollywood and Ted to look for her father in Los Angeles. Thrown out of Hollywood's USC dorm, Maybe becomes homeless until Ted l
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Sep 28, 2009
Christy
rated it:
Maybe (short for Maybelline) her mother's favorite mascara is a complicated character. She dresses in large over-sized clothes, dyes her hair with kool-aid and enjoys wearing lots of black eye-liner. Her mother is a former pageant queen and now runs a beauty and charm school. She has also been married several times. Maybe and her mother do not have a great relationship and Maybe spends a lot of her time feeling ugly, hurt and taking abuse from the girls that her mother coaches.
Mom ( More...
Mom ( More...
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Sep 04, 2010
Joli
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I really liked reading Absolutely Maybe because you could see Maybe's independence develop throughout the novel. At the beginning of the book, Maybe's individuality is misunderstood by her mother and by the people of her community with the exception of her two friends, Ted and Hollywood. When a terrible confrontation between Maybe and her mother results in Maybe running off with her friends for the summer, you think that she will have a summer filled with adventures while searching for her fathe
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Mar 23, 2009
Kathryn
rated it:
Loved this authors way of approaching a tough subject and drawing the reader in. Maybelline, mary katherine mary ann chestnut a.k.a Maybe thinks that if she can just find her biological father her life will be perfect. She heads to California with her two guy friends and soon finds out that although her friends are adjusting to the new surroundings, she isn't and money is running out. She only has a first name for her father and that he was a "big wig in the production business" before
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Mar 01, 2009
Julia
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Maybelline "Maybe" Chestnut, named after her beauty queen mother's favorite mascara, is a sixteen year old goth like opposite to her mother's charm school business. It's just the two of them (after six marriages for Chessy) and showing up with hubby to be #7 and his wandering eye for young Maybe sends Maybe off on a road trip with her two best friends, Hollywood and Ted. The road trip takes her to Los Angeles, where first they bunk with Hollywood at his USC summer program, then Ted f
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Jul 12, 2010
Annie (Juliet)
rated it:
UGH.
AKFJKSDJFKLSDJFLJDKLAJSFKLDS
Before I read this book I wanted to hate it. I really did, something about made me think I would hate.
Then, I started reading it and I desperately wanted to like it. It had potiental for me to LOVE the main character.
With her dyed hair and I-don't-care attiude.
But alas, it was not meant to be.
The MC just struck me as a bit dim. I mean, she goes to LA without a job and without really any plan, and then j More...
AKFJKSDJFKLSDJFLJDKLAJSFKLDS
Before I read this book I wanted to hate it. I really did, something about made me think I would hate.
Then, I started reading it and I desperately wanted to like it. It had potiental for me to LOVE the main character.
With her dyed hair and I-don't-care attiude.
But alas, it was not meant to be.
The MC just struck me as a bit dim. I mean, she goes to LA without a job and without really any plan, and then j More...
Jan 08, 2010
Ifahh
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Mar 21, 2009
Anna
rated it:
I wanted to love this but in the end thought it was just okay. I felt like it was really surface-level writing and I kept waiting and waiting for the characters to become more real and better developed but they just sort of remained unfamiliar to me. I didn't really like Maybe. She was obnoxious in the beginning of the book and her self-esteem issues and constant screw ups did not make her endearing. I felt even more annoyed with Ted and Hollywood, the two male best friends of Maybe's, because
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Aug 30, 2010
Julia
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
May 06, 2009
Miz Lizzie
rated it:
Maybelline, Maybe for short, is named after her mother's favorite mascara. Her mother is a former beauty queen and current operator of a charm school. Naturally, Maybe is in complete rebellion against everything her mother stands for. When her mother's soon-to-be-husband-number-six makes a pass at Maybe, Maybe runs away to Hollywood with two friends on an extremely irrational and unplanned attempt to find her biological father -- whom she has never met and only knows his first name. The book
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Jan 18, 2009
Kate
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Lisa Yee's first book for young adults is a terrific coming-of-age story. Maybelline Chestnut (named after her mother's favorite makeup) leaves home with her two best friends on a road trip from Florida to California, searching for her real father. Along the way, she finds adventure, challenges, really great tacos, new friends, and a place to call home.
Fans of Lisa Yee's books for middle grade readers who have grown a little older will be thrilled with this new title. It has all the More...
Fans of Lisa Yee's books for middle grade readers who have grown a little older will be thrilled with this new title. It has all the More...
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May 20, 2009
TheSaint
rated it:
To truly enjoy Lisa Yee's Absolutely Maybe, you will need to suspend your disbelief in a major way. Driving from Florida to California in a beat-up old Toyota that doesn't break down? OK. Driving cross-country with no place to stay or means of support when you get there? No problem. Snagging a cushy job with a faded Oscar-winning actress, who lets you drive her Rolls Royce? No way! Hoping to find your biological father with only a first name and a photograph? Extremely unlikely. But Maybelline h
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