REVIEW: PINK BY LILI WILKINSON

Hardcover, 304 pages
Expected publication: February 8th 2011 by HarperCollins Publishers (first published August 1st 2009)
Original title: Pink
Setting: Australia

Ava has a secret. She is tired of her ultracool attitude, ultra-radical politics, and ultrablack clothing. She's ready to try something new—she's even ready to be someone new. Someone who fits in, someone with a gorgeous boyfriend, someone who wears pink.

Transferring to a new school is the perfect chance to try on a new identity. But just in case things don't work out, Ava is hiding her new interests from her parents, and especially from her old girlfriend.

Secrets have a way of being hard to keep, though, and Ava finds that changing herself is more complicated than changing her wardrobe. As she faces surprising choices and unforeseen consequences, Ava wonders if she will ever figure out who she really wants to be.

Man, oh man, oh man - did I ever LOVE this book! Actually, I'm kind of jealous that it didn't come out when I was a teenager - and trying to figure out who the hell I wanted to be! LOL

This story focuses on Ava: a teenage girl who, for so long, has been your cool, all-black-wearing, lesbian, laid-back feminist. BUT by the time we meet her, she's ready for a change. Is she really a lesbian? Does she really want to wear black all the time? Is being this person really going to make her happy? All these questions swirl around in her head, and they all boil down to one final thought: what would happen if she wore pink?

I absolutely adore this book because which of us - especially girls - haven't wondered who the hell we are? How many of us were once tomboys who were thinking about doing a complete 180 and being girly girls? What about the fact that half the time, you have to choose. Are you a tomboy or are you a girly girl? There just seems to be no in-between.

What Ava finds out in this novel is that you just have to figure out - to the best of your abilities - how to be yourself. You can be a tomboy, or a girly-girl or a mixture of the two, but you have to be happy and confident in who you are. And you have to know that your friends are the ones that love you no matter what you choose. But it's not just about being a girl either - it's about sexual identity, race, cultural tastes - it's the idea of: "where the hell do I fit in".

I love this book so much, and I bet you will too! The writing style is great, it's fast and witty. There are a ton of hilarious moments, and maybe it'll actually change the way you feel about yourself. Check it out!!

5 out of 5 stars.