I read something recently in Runner's World that started me thinking about my blog again. In the monthly column The Newbie Chronicles, Marc Parent notes, "If you intend to quit running and you plan to somehow make the quitting stick, you have to be determined about it. You have to be focused and extremely consistent. You have to quit every single day for the rest of your life." For the latter part of 2008 and for all of 2009, I've been pretty consistent about quitting this blog business, and then I read a charming debut novel by Lisa Greenwald. My Life in Pink and Green is a contemporary Pollyanna, and I just couldn't help but sing its praises.
Lucy Desberg is a girl that knows what she wants. She wants to create her own cosmetics line and become the next Bobbi Brown or Laura Mercier. She wants to save her family's pharmacy from bankruptcy. She wants her friends to have confidence in both their inner and outer beauty. And if she can help save the environment while she's accomplishing the rest of her goals, so much the better. There's only one problem. Lucy is 12, and she's finding it's pretty difficult to make the adults in her life take her ideas seriously.
Lucy is such a wonderful, optimistic character. You could almost find her positive attitude annoying if it weren't for the fact that her ideas about beauty, friendship and going green are so perfectly modern. Just like everyone else, I've been watching the news and feeling as if I should hole up and put all my money under the mattress. I've been going to the library a bit more, and the bookstore a lot less. Thankfully, with its pitch-perfect cover, My Life in Pink and Green screamed out that it was going to be worth $16.95, and boy was it! I can't wait to read what Lisa Greenwald writes next.
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