My lips are white. Sixteen-year-old Sep stares into the bathroom mirror. Its not some weird lipstick (she never wears lipstick). Her lips are just white. In a panic, she digs up an old lipstick and smears it on her colorless lips. But soon, more and more white spots begin to bloom, spreading their chalky tendrils across her olive brown skin. Does she have a disease? Is she turning into some kind of freak? Sep is usually the one who knows all the answers. With a quicksilver mind and a supple body, shes happiest when shes delving into the mysteries of animal biology or giving herself over to sweet, hot moves in Jazz Dance Club. Unlike her best friend, Devin, shes never been in a rush to get a boyfriend. But as the white blotches spread, her dating days like the endangered species she studies seem numbered. So when Joshua, a boy shes always liked, makes a flirty advance, she wonders: why not grab pleasure while she can? Frank, funny, and full of passion, this is the empowering story of a strong gifted teen who, as her life spins out of control, desperately tries to prove to the world and herself that she is deeper than skin.

 

 

This book is aimed at children at US 9th grade-12th grade.

There are 352 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2013 by Amazon Publishing .

Donna Jo Napoli is a linguistics professor and has written more than eighty books for young readers. She lives in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. www. donnajonapoli. com