The Girl I Wanted to Be

By: Sarah Grace McCandless

Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin

As a lowly freshman, Presley Moran walks high-school corridors paved with the stuff of family legend. Her cousin, Barry, a senior heartthrob and brainy varsity letterman, insists that looking good on paper is the key to success. But Presley's young aunt, Betsi, a former homecoming queen, has her own ideas about good looks and how to use them.

"Can you keep a secret?" Betsi asks Presley, who, at age 14, is eager to enter the adult world of beauty, attraction, and romance. But as Presley is about to discover, some secrets should never be revealed. Will the illicit thrill of being a trusted confidante be worth the consequences of guilt by association?

Propelled by the crash of falling idols, The Girl I Wanted to Be is a timeless and true portrait of passion, loss, and hard-won wisdom.

©2006 Sarah Grace McCandless (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"Presley's voice comes through with a believable mixture of confusion, innocence, and growing wisdom." (Library Journal)
"A family secret forces a gawky teen to grow up quickly [as]....Presley begins to question whom she can trust....and her school friends bail when her problems extend beyond gym class." (Kirkus Reviews)