Carolina's life looks like an outbreak of acne: bad things are erupting all over it. She was counting on her older sister Madelaine to help her start high school on the right foot. But that won't happen now because their father took Madelaine away. Carolina and her mother live alone, in a different house. But that situation isn't working out so well, either. Her mother doesn't notice lots of things, like that Carolina needs a bra, so Mara, Carolina's best friend, gives her some bras that she has outgrown. Just when things start to look up, Carolina finds out that Mara might not be her best friend at all. A handsome neighbor boy who is fond of Carolina could change the girls' relationship forever.

As the weeks and months roll on, Carolina writes long letters to Madelaine and her father, but she doesn't mail them. And she also writes notes "to You." Who is this person she calls "You"? Why won't Carolina's father and Madelaine come back? And why is Carolina so deep-down angry at her mother?

CAROLINA AUTUMN is a book about the ordinary and the extraordinary pains of growing up. It tells about a spunky girl who faces the fact that her life is her own; she must make sense of it and craft meaning into it herself. How will she do this? This book shows you her path; will it lead to a happy ending?

   --- Reviewed by Tamara Penny