My Life in Pink and Green by Lisa Greenwald

For Review: Amulet Books (Abrams) Published September 1st 2010

From Goodreads: Twelve-year-old Lucy Desberg is a natural problem solver. After the local homecoming queen shows up at her family’s struggling drugstore with a beauty disaster that Lucy helps to fix, Lucy has a long line of makeover customers for every school dance and bat mitzvah. But all the makeup tips in the world won’t help save the pharmacy. If only she could find a way to make the pharmacy the center of town again—a place where people want to spend time, like in the old days. Lucy dreams up a solution that could resuscitate the family business and help the environment, too. But will Lucy’s family stop fighting long enough to listen to a seventh-grader? This book is a funny and sweet debut featuring an unforgettable narrator who knows what she wants, whether it’s great makeup, a killer business plan, or a better world.

This is such a cute and enjoyable book. Straight away I found myself rooting for Lucy - she is such a sweet a character and found myself easily swept up in her story. She has such a great spirit and is very likable as a result.

There are many thinks going on in the book. Lucy is made aware that the pharmacy her family own - a place she thinks of as a second home - is struggling and may close. She desperately doesn't want this to happen so she comes up with various ideas to help. Add to this friend issues, an after school green club and a couple of boy crushes and we have a very enjoyable story.

I loved Lucy's family and really enjoyed their dynamic. Her mother is somewhat scatty but in a funny way. Her Gran is caring but obviously under a great deal of pressure. I also loved how close Lucy is to her sister Claudia - and that she still played a large part in the story even though she was away at college.

I also really enjoyed the focus on green issues. I thought it was a great way to bring it to people's attention without being too preachy. It's something Lucy becomes passionate about and as a reader I found myself interested too.

Although this is aimed more at tweens than teens I think older readers would enjoy it too. Lucy comes across as older than her depicted age and many of the storylines would appeal just as much to older readers as they would to younger ones. I really enjoyed reading about Sunny and Lucy's first crushes. Who doesn't remember their first crush? Both storylines were dealt with in a really honest and gentle way and I couldn't help but love it.

I'm really looking forward to reading Greenwald's next book 'Sweet Treats & Secret Crushes' when it's published in November.