Initially I didn’t think I was going to like this book. It started out slow, and with a protagonist that didn’t seem too likable. Gotta say, my mind was changed long before the end of the book.

Stacey struggles with self-esteem. She’s a tall teenage girl, who also isn’t the skinny model type. So when she’s picked to be a lifeguard over the summer at the local pool, she is anything but excited to have to wear a swimsuit every day. Once she attends the orientation, she’s even less excited since the girls are all, in Stacey’s eyes, perfect. The boys, well, at least one named Jesse, hot. How can she possibly wear a swimsuit around these people?

Yet as the summer goes on, Stacey becomes more comfortable not only with herself, but with her coworkers, forging friendships she never expected. Even the totally hot Jesse. Life is never perfect, nor as expected, and her newfound confidence and desire to be desirable causes a rift with her best friend Gabe. Stacey is going to have to figure out what she really wants and how to get it.

Stacey starts out kind of whiny and insufferable, but over the summer (and the book) becomes so much more of a well rounded human, flaws and all. It’s a great novel about being yourself and trusting your instincts. The teenage years are challenging for anyone. This novel points out that even when you thinks someone has it all, they might be hiding some real things from you.

Turned out to be a pretty good novel about growing up. I enjoyed it.