My Almost Epic Summer

My Almost Epic Summer follows Irene, a fourteen-year-old with big dreams of L.A. salon ownership, whose summer takes an unexpected detour when she's fired from her mom's salon and forced into babysitting. Feeling stuck and envious of her friends' glamorous vacations, Irene's perspective shifts when she encounters Starla, a beautiful lifeguard whose life is a whirlwind of drama, romance, and dangerous obsessions. This book explores themes of self-perception, friendship, and finding independence as Irene learns valuable lessons about life and herself through observing Starla's complicated world. It's a relatable story for middle schoolers navigating identity and social dynamics.

Irene's got big dreams—someday she's going to own an exclusive salon in L.A. It's a good thing she has dreams, since her reality is a nightmare. She's just been fired from her mom's beauty salon for her tear-jerking shampooing technique and is forced to take the only other job she can find—babysitting. Now she's stuck at the beach entertaining kids while everyone else is having a glamorous summer. Will she ever get a life? Then Irene meets Starla, a mindbogglingly beautiful lifeguard, whose diva attitude, dangerous obsessions, male admirers, and fiery blog hold enough real-life drama and romance to fill a book. Suddenly Irene finds that the countdown to real life is over and her fate is in her own hands.