In My Mailbox (19)

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi over at The Story Siren! In My Mailbox is a way to share the books you received each week.

This week I got:


Andromeda Klein
Frank Portman
Andromeda Klein is a quiet, booky girl with an unexciting life. Until her world takes a turn for the weird. Strangely and suddenly Andromeda’s tarot card readings have begun to predict events with bizarrely literal accuracy. It seems impossible, but it looks like her once-upon-a-time-partner-in-occultism, Daisy Wasserstrom, has begun to harass her. Which wouldn’t be quite as strange if Daisy hadn’t died the year before. But what is weird is getting arguably worse. Omens, dreams, cards hidden inside a hollowed out book, and images from a file of comics drawn by a previous inhabitant of her family’s suburban duplex are all coming together to contain hints of buried truths concerning her family, her circle of “friends,” her cat, and her secret, estranged, much older and forbidden boyfriend-in-theory. And as Andromeda tries to figure it all out, she finds herself in a whole world of creepy you couldn’t even begin to make up.


One Wish
Leigh Brescia
Overweight Wrenn Scott desperately wants to be popular and snag a hot boyfriend. Living with her single mom and younger sister, Karly, she lands a lead role in the high school musical, her voice for once overshadowing her weight. Pushing to get thinner by opening night, Wrenn's waistline shrinks as she learns all the wrong ways to lose weight from a new "it-girl" friend in the show. Meanwhile, her mom is falling for Phil, "a balding Channel 8 News-nerd"; her sister is wrapped up in her own share of middle school drama, and Wrenn's best friend has fallen for a guy she met online-but hasn't even seen yet! Topping it off, geeky stage manager Steven has a crush on her. But Wrenn doesn't want to be seen with him- she's holding out for a trophy boyfriend whom everyone will envy. By opening night, the old Wrenn has almost disappeared. After a crisis reveals her weight-loss tricks, Wrenn realizes there are much more important things than being thin, popular, or even dating a hunk.


We Thought You Would Be Prettier
Laurie Notaro
She thought she’d have more time. Laurie Notaro figured she had at least a few good years left. But no–it’s happened. She has officially lost her marbles. From the kid at the pet-food store checkout line whose coif is so bizarre it makes her seethe “I’m going to kick his hair’s ass!” to the hapless Sears customer-service rep on the receiving end of her Campaign of Terror, no one is safe from Laurie’s wrath. Her cranky side seems to have eaten the rest of her–inner-thigh Chub Rub and all. And the results are breathtaking.

Her riffs on e-mail spam (“With all of these irresistible offers served up to me on a plate, I WANT A PENIS NOW!!”), eBay (“There should be an eBay wading pool, where you can only bid on Precious Moments figurines and Avon products, that you have to make it through before jumping into the deep end”), and the perils of St. Patrick’s Day (“When I’m driving, the last thing I need is a herd of inebriates darting in and out of traffic like loaded chickens”) are the stuff of legend. And for Laurie, it’s all true.


ShadowMaker
Joan Lowery Nixon
Soon after moving to Kluney, a small Texas town, Katie and her mother notice sinister activities involving a secret high-school gang and a company that illegally stores toxic wastes. Reprint. C. K. PW.





What'd you guys get?