Celine

"Show a little maturity," he said, which I've doped out to mean: Pass all your courses, avoid detection in all crimes and misdemeanors, don't get pregnant. Celine's father has left her with these instructions. She's not too worried about the last two, but she'll fail English unless she rewrites her Catcher in the Ryeessay. And she keeps being interrupted, especially by Jake, the neighbor's boy, who's been dumped on her for the weekend. An ALA Best Book for Young Adults A School Library JournalBest Book of the Year A BooklistBest Book of the '80s A Publishers WeeklyBest Children's Book of the Year

Brock Cole is the author and/or illustrator of many books, including picture books such as Buttons, a Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor Book, and novels such as The Goats, an ALA Notable Book. He lives in Buffalo, New York.

"Vivid and intelligent."--Starred, School Library Journal

"Celine is one of the wittiest narrators to step out of the pages of young adult fiction...Her targets range from modern art to televangelism and her aim is true."--The Washington Post

"An original and disarming first-person narrative about a sixteen-year-old artist and her irresolute yearnings to find a center to her life...[A] mature, fully realized work, and one that sees an exciting author, with an authentic new voice, emerging as an important spokesman for contemporary young adults."--Starred, The Horn Book

"Start to finish, this book is a delight. It is funny, witty and poignant."--The New York Times Book Review