Pink Hair and Other Terrible Ideas

This book really spoke to the constantly changing emotions that plague the tween years. Thinking about my kids and reliving my own life at that age, it feels so right for Josephine to waffle between maturity and immaturity as every chapter unfolds. I really related to Josephine's attempt to hold all her fears and emotions inside. At the same age, I had the same tendency and my world often felt too large to manage. As an adult, how to handle life's little and bigger obstacles seems so obvious, but in my heart, I know that growing up while dealing with any challenge often felt very confusing and daunting.Andrea Pyros won me over with MY YEAR OF EPIC ROCK and now her books are on my auto-buy list. You're going to love this touching look at the art of growing up, especially when it feels like the earth is shifting beneath your feet. The truth is, it's hard to know what you stand for when you're not even really sure who you are. Reading PINK HAIR reminds us all that we can reinvent ourselves every day--and that's okay. In fact, it's kind of cool.

Imagine if this book were queer. Instead of the Diego plot it’s Jose being a closeted lesbian. Amazing book though!

I just finished this book - couldn't put it down as I was rooting for the girl in this story! It was a masterful depiction of how kids really feel. The book showed how hard it is to navigate the daily ups and downs of being a preteen while facing big challenges. Josephine's mother is diagnosed with breast cancer and Josephine tries to come to terms with what that might mean for her and her family. She tries to shut down the parts of herself that hurt so she can get on with the business of making friends, liking boys, and, keeping up at school. But her plan to keep quiet starts to cause even more problems, especially with her BFF Makayla. Then her twin brother Chance blows up her strategy by coming to school with pink hair to support their mom. She has to face it all head on. Her struggle is relatable, at times funny, and full of heart! ❤️

Authentic tween emotions make this novel shine! Covers some heavier topics in an authentic, everyday middle grade way -- not focusing solely on the mother's illness or the parents' relationship or the sibling conflict or the friend/crush awkwardness, but on how the MC and those around her deal with problems and challenges in completely different ways -- and that's okay.

Could this author be an Ernest Hemingway in the making?

A sweet, nice story about a young girl dealing with her mother's cancer diagnosis. I'm a little confused about the ages; they read young to me, but the characters are stated to be twelve and their first boy/girl party is a major theme. I couldn't shelve this in the twelves section, though, it's too easy. Not a big deal, though.It dealt well with two common reactions to this kind of news; talking it out with others, or hiding for fear of making it real, which makes it a good story to help children deal with things. A good read and a useful read.

It is so well written, I forgot this was written for young adults. I recommend this to everyone interested in understanding what a young adult/teenager might be facing including issues related to social media, being young girl trying to "fit" in and other things that "angst" the teenager and of course the daunting issues everyone faces when there is the unknown related to illness in the family. The siblings were so interesting to get to know and their relationship so heartwarming. Here is to Pink Hair!

This book is a very intresting and keeps you wanting to know what's going to happen next. It is now one of my favorite books and it's very hard for books to get on my favorites.