My Life in Black & White by Natasha Friend is extremely readable! Natasha Friend just has a really pleasing storytelling style and it made her new book a great reading experience for me.

Synopsis: Lexi has always been stunning. Her butter-colored hair and perfect features have helped her attract friends, a boyfriend, and the attention of a modeling scout. But everything changes the night Lexi's face goes through a windshield. Now she's not sure what's worse: the scars she'll have to live with forever, or what she saw going on between her best friend and her boyfriend right before the accident. With the help of her trombone-playing, defiantly uncool older sister and a guy at school recovering from his own recent trauma, Lexi learns she's much more than just a pretty face. (Goodreads.com)


Alexa has always been beautiful. That is what everyone has said to her entire life. To say she has led a rather idyllic life is putting it mildly. Popular, boyfriend, best friend, center of attention, she has it all. She is not really conceited or mean about it, but it's just always been there for her. That all changes when she her face goes through a windshield. Glass and skin do not mix well as most of us know and Lexi definitely has a long road to recovery in front of her. At first, she is rather numb to what this means for her, and that is mostly because she is focusing on the fact that her boyfriend was getting a blow job from her best friend shortly before the car accident. Those are the images in Lexi's head, until a hospital psychologist forces her to look into a mirror. Then, well, Lexi's not going to be the gorgeous, model-perfect girl anymore.

And let's be honest here, Lexi whines, complains, and basically pities herself for much of the book. But I could not fully berate her for it. She is just starting high school (her sophomore year since her junior high went up to ninth grade) and her world is now very different. I wanted her to buck up but I also understood she is really a rather immature girl who is dealing with this in her own way. All I can say is, thank goodness for her older sister, Ruth, who does not put up with Lexi's crap. Ruth is a great voice of reason and I really enjoyed their relationship. They aren't exactly close since they lead two very different lives and two very different high school experiences, but there was a sisterly bond there that not even Lexi's complaining could break.

I also really liked that this book features some forgiveness. Yeah, things are not all peachy keen perfect by the story's end but there has been some resolution, some moving forward for Lexi and her friends. She is not above feeling hurt but she also changes (she kind of has to) due to the accident and it influences the way she sees her friends. There is one scene in particular where Lexi could have taken the easy way out and let her friend get hurt but she did not do that. Despite still being very angry, Lexi knows right from wrong and she did the right thing. It was the first step in what would eventually be some healing for these two friends.

This book features a very sensationalized look at the high school experience in some ways. There is sex, drinking and parties in high school of that there is no doubt and unfortunately, due to the proliferation of cell phones and cyber bullying, there are also way too many girls who are facing the consequences of those drunken parties the day after through illicit photos. That is the case in this book but it didn't always feel quite real to me, it felt a bit lesson-y. This was not a bad thing but it is something to consider for those selecting this book for their library collections. There is sex, there are teen boys who corner a drunk girl and take pictures of her. It is not a pretty, conservative high school experience but it is also not glossed over.

I also really liked that Lexi found something new to appreciate and explore in her life. This accident opened her up to a new world and she starts participating in something that in her previous life would have been never even considered. This book opens a conversation about beauty and how we treat the beautiful people versus the regular old Joes. It starts exploring what female beauty is and how it is used and abused, how it promotes competition between girls and how it can keep girls bound in certain places in their lives, how it closes doors just as much as it opens doors. Natasha Friend starts that conversation and while there are no real resolutions at about it at the end, I think this is always a topic that is important for girls to think about and My Life in Black & White paves the way for that conversation.

I read this book very quickly. It has a lot of humor despite the things that happen and despite Lexi's pitying herself, I just really liked her. I related to her and her experiences and I think other girls will also. My Life in Black & White is available on June 28, 2012 from Viking Juvenile. I think it's a book you will want to get your hands on.