About this eBook
If all the world’s a stage, Andrea Anderson is sitting in the audience. High school has its predictable heroes, heroines, villains, and plotlines, and Andrea has no problem guessing how each drama will turn out. She is, after all, a professional spectator. In the social hierarchy she is a Nothing, and at home her mother runs the show. All Andrea has to do is show up every day and life basically plays out as scripted.
Then one day Andrea accepts a job. Honora Menapace–a reclusive neighbor–is sick. As in every other aspect of her life, Andrea’s role is clear: Honora’s garden must be taken care of and her pottery finished, and someone needs to feed her dog, Zena. But what starts out as a simple job yanks Andrea’s back-row seat out from under her. Life is no longer predictable, and nothing is what it seems. Light is dark, villains are heroes, and what she once saw as ugly is too beautiful for words. Andrea must face the fact that life at first glance doesn’t even crack the surface.
Then one day Andrea accepts a job. Honora Menapace–a reclusive neighbor–is sick. As in every other aspect of her life, Andrea’s role is clear: Honora’s garden must be taken care of and her pottery finished, and someone needs to feed her dog, Zena. But what starts out as a simple job yanks Andrea’s back-row seat out from under her. Life is no longer predictable, and nothing is what it seems. Light is dark, villains are heroes, and what she once saw as ugly is too beautiful for words. Andrea must face the fact that life at first glance doesn’t even crack the surface.
Ratings and reviews
5.0
1 review
A Google user
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9 December 2009
I can't stop thinking about this story. It is deep and completely satisfying.
Andrea Anderson is a loner in high school. She plays on the sidelines of life. She has a single mom who is very demanding and her life is very dull and ordinary. She thinks of school as a theater, and as she travels the hallways she sees different soap opera scenes.
The one thing that Andrea loves are dogs and long walks in the countryside. Andrea's mom works at the local hospital and when one of the neighbors is admitted, she volunteers Andrea to walk the neighbor's dog. This single event changes Andrea's life.
When she meets Honora, her neighbor, and Honora's dog, Zena, Andrea finds acceptance for the first time. Honora employs Andrea to be her assistant. Honora is an artist and loves nature. She teaches Andrea about pottery, herbs, plants, dyes, and how to look at life beneath the surface. Andrea starts to be open about life and seeing people in a completely new light.
This story was full of metaphors about art, life, and nature. It was also a coming of age story about a lonely young girl who finds her way in this world. I highly recommend this quiet little story about life. I promise it will stay with you for a long time afterward.
**TRT Gold Star Award
About the author
E. M. Crane is the winner of the 2006 Delacorte Press Contest for a First Young Adult Novel. She lives in Sackets Harbor, New York, where she is a fulltime writer. Skin Deep is her first book for young readers.
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