Picture Perfect [NOOK Book]

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Overview


So far, life for fourteen-year-old Phoebe Trask has been picture perfect. Her parents are successful; her older sister, Shyla, is on track to becoming the youngest lawyer in Texas; and her sixteen-year-old brother, Zane, the all-American best brother ever, is a star on the high school swim team.

Then Phoebe's mother, Beth, becomes the traveling spokeswoman for Bee Beautiful Cosmetics, a job that keeps her away from home indefinitely, and Phoebe's father, a respected judge, finds himself embroiled in a trial that has the whole town choosing sides. What's more, the new next-door neighbor is a gorgeous widow who seems to want to take Beth's place in the ...

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Overview


So far, life for fourteen-year-old Phoebe Trask has been picture perfect. Her parents are successful; her older sister, Shyla, is on track to becoming the youngest lawyer in Texas; and her sixteen-year-old brother, Zane, the all-American best brother ever, is a star on the high school swim team.

Then Phoebe's mother, Beth, becomes the traveling spokeswoman for Bee Beautiful Cosmetics, a job that keeps her away from home indefinitely, and Phoebe's father, a respected judge, finds himself embroiled in a trial that has the whole town choosing sides. What's more, the new next-door neighbor is a gorgeous widow who seems to want to take Beth's place in the family. All of a sudden Phoebe's once-solid family is on very shaky ground.

In the year that follows, Phoebe is pushed to her limit as she struggles to cope with the changes in her life that just keep coming, ready or not -- and as she learns what it really means to love...and to forgive.

Editorial Reviews

Children's Literature
Fourteen-year old Phoebe's life is picture perfect. Her father is a well respected judge; her mother, one of the top sellers of Bee Beautiful beauty products. The only thing looming on the horizon is school—Phoebe will be a freshman in high school, but that should not be a big deal given everything she has got going for her. But suddenly things are not so perfect. Her mother accepts a fabulous job as Bee Beautiful's national spokeswoman. She has not come home for months and it is starting to feel like she will not ever come back. An attractive and maybe-too-friendly widow has rented the house next door. Is it possible she is making a play for Phoebe's Dad? And is it possible her Dad is interested? Phoebe has met a great guy at school but he has a secret that she has promised to keep as well. Things can only get better...right? Wrong! Now her father is judging a controversial case that has the community violently divided. Her mother has come home to stay, only to tell her family she has been diagnosed with cancer. Potential infidelity, possible divorce, family illness, spousal abuse, and a father and family threatened by his responsibilities as a judge. It is more than a bit unlikely that all of these crises would occur in less than one year of anyone's life. But this is fiction. Although there is way too much going on, it all hangs together to make a thoroughly enjoyable read.
From The Critics
As Phoebe Trask looks forward to freshman year, her world seems perfect: Her mother Beth is a successful representative for Bee Beautiful cosmetics; siblings Shyla and Zane are shining stars of the college and high school scenes; and her father is a respected judge. Then seemingly out of the blue, her mother accepts a position as traveling spokesperson for her company, and everything changes. With her mother gone indefinitely, who will guide Phoebe through her transition to high school? Who will support her father through a difficult trial that threatens to split the community? Could it be Beverly, their glamorous new neighbor? Not if Phoebe has anything to say about it! Love writes a "typical teenage angst" novel without the angst. Touchy situations abound, including her mother's seeming abandonment; father Sumner's attraction to another woman; brother Zane's dabbling in vandalism; and Beth's diagnosis with cancer. Phoebe struggles to make friends, falls in first love, and copes with threats to her family as her father attempts to deal impartially with a touchy case involving flag burning. Somehow a positive outcome is never in doubt; the reader knows all will be successfully resolved. That said, it is a refreshing book. The siblings love and support each other. They respect their father even though they worry about him. Phoebe is resilient and resourceful. Love demonstrates that characters coping successfully with challenges can make a good story too. Fans of light, contemporary fiction will find this offering picture perfect.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781442407251
  • Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
  • Publication date: 10/27/2009
  • Sold by: SIMON & SCHUSTER
  • Format: eBook
  • Pages: 304
  • Sales rank: 583,168
  • Age range: 12 years
  • File size: 2 MB
  • Items ship to U.S, APO/FPO and U.S. Protectorate addresses.

Meet the Author


D. Anne Love is the author of several award-winning novels for young readers, including Defying the Diva, Picture Perfect, Semiprecious, and The Puppeteer’s Apprentice. Ms. Love lives in Texas hill country with her husband, Ron, and Major and Jake, their book-loving golden retrievers. You can visit her online at dannelove.com.

Customer Reviews
Average Rating 4.5
( 10 )

Rating Distribution

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 29, 2011

    Picture PERFECT!

    This book is wonderful to read and I would recommend it to many other girls out there. I coud read again and again!

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  • Posted February 27, 2011

    Great

    This book was very interesting and kept me turning the pages. A young person might find this book very good.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 9, 2009

    I Also Recommend:

    Picture Perfect

    I am a sophomore at Holt High School and I recently read the book Picture Perfect by D. Anne Love. I read this book because the title was intriguing and the front cover said "A picture is worth a thousand words.but does it tell the whole story?"
    The main characters are Phoebe, a fourteen-year-old; Zane, Phoebe's stubborn older brother; Phoebe's father; Shyla, Phoebe's older sister; and Beth, Phoebe's mother. Phoebe lives with her parents and her brother Zane in Texas. Phoebe's sister moved to a bigger town to become a lawyer. Phoebe's mother is a traveling spokeswomen for a beauty product called Bee Beautiful Cosmetics. She got a promotion to move out of state to further her career, and didn't have any hesitation of leaving her family behind. The family kept in touch but Phoebe was upset that her mom could just walk out like that and prefer her job over her family.
    Meanwhile a new neighbor moves in and Phoebe's father has an interest in her. The family goes through many struggles while the Beth is gone. Phoebe and her brother create a closer bond because they have to work together to keep the family running the right coarse. They are all on shaky grounds but make it through the rough times whether there ready or not.

    The main theme in this book is family.
    I would recommend this book to teenage girls who like to read about family struggles and how they get through it.
    This book connects to many movies and books, including The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and The Alice series.
    I would give this book 4 stars out of 5. It is very intriguing and the conflicts keep coming. There is not one part of the book that is boring.

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  • Posted November 14, 2008

    more from this reviewer

    Reviewed by Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

    PICTURE PERFECT is like a photo album depicting a year in the life of the Trask family. The family is headed by Judge Trask, a respected member of the Eden community. His wife, Beth, is a saleswoman for Bee Beautiful cosmetics. Shyla Trask is an honor student attending college in Austin. Zane is a popular high school student, and youngest sibling, Phoebe, has just turned fourteen.

    Life is fairly typical for the Trask family until the day Beth Trask wins a contest with Bee Beautiful comestics, and while attending the convention in Las Vegas decides not to return home. Judge Trask, Zane, and Phoebe are left to fend for themselves. What follows is a year of change and confusion.

    The summer begins with a new neighbor, beautiful Beverly, moving in next door. She is determined to become part of the family and seems particularly smitten with Judge Sumner Trask. Phoebe and Zane begin to suspect that they need to keep their eyes on her or they may find their mother has been replaced.

    As fall arrives, Phoebe struggles to begin her first year of high school. Without her mother's presence, Phoebe depends on rare but welcome help from her older sister and the constant butting-in of neighbor Beverly. Zane rebels by joining his buddies in some teenage-type vandalism, and incurs the wrath of the Judge. The Judge has his own problems when faced with a difficult case that results in threats to his family's safety.

    The Trask family muddles through on the home front until Beth Trask finally comes to her senses and returns from her saleswoman adventures. Her return is not all sunshine and roses however, since her first announcement is that she has cancer. And the year continues...

    D. Anne Love brings the Trask family struggles to life with believable characters and experiences. From Phoebe's first kiss to Judge Trask's beating, readers will keep turning pages to find out what will happen next.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 5, 2008

    amazing book for young adults

    this is an amazing book it has it all..... i really enjoyed it i could not put it down!i would read it a million more times if i could

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 12, 2007

    Picture Perfect

    I really enjoyed this book. It was very well written and D. Anne Love has a very good writing sense. I would recommend this book to young teenage girls. I also would recommend this to anyone going through family problems and see how someone else handled it and to try and help you out.

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    Posted December 25, 2010

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    Posted January 9, 2010

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    Posted October 28, 2008

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    Posted July 10, 2011

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