Hannah Friedman tells the true story of her adolescence and how she faced the challenges that teens face today. Although she is just a regular girl, Hannah describes her experiences growing up with a monkey as an older sibling and a father who is a musician. After her father’s music career dies down, Hannah goes into middle school for the first time.

In middle school, Hannah experiences some of the harsh realities of mean girls. She later decides to move to a private high school where she finds herself accepted into the “popular” group and establishing herself as class president. With the pressure of the popular crowd and other girls, Hannah diets often which develops into an eating disorder. She soon finds herself with a boyfriend, who pressures her into drugs, which compromises her previous beliefs about drugs. On top of everything that is going on in her life, she starts the college application process, which proves to be very stressful after not getting accepted into her first choice.

I would recommend this book to high schoolers, especially seniors. I think it is an even more powerful read for young women. It’s a good book, especially if you are looking for modern day nonfiction that you could still relate to. I think that any reader will find this book most comforting and humorous considering that Hannah’s experiences and choices reflect most experiences and choices that teens make every day.