Two Steps Forward - by Rachel Cohn (Paperback)

About the Book

Fourteen-year-old Annabel's extended family gathers in Los Angeles for several weeks over the summer where she must contend with step- and half sisters and brothers and her own mother's failing marriage.

Book Synopsis

Four stepsiblings from two opposite sides of the world are sharing a summer together in one strange city: Los Angeles.

NYC fashionista girl Annabel is determined to hate LA, where her dad and his family have relocated. But just when Annabel thinks her summer is beyond ruined, she gets a surprise from Down Under . . . and let's just say he's a good kisser.

Lucy misses her home country, Australia, but thinks LA isn't so bad after all. If she could only get her stepsister Annabel on board to loving LA too -- and get that weird Wheaties boy to stop staring at her!

Wheaties, boy-genius, doesn't mind where he's spending the summer, so long as lovable Lucy is nearby. He's trying not to worry about how his dad and stepmother's marriage problems will affect his living situation. And he'd really like to know the secret of that Ben dude's swoony appeal to the girls.

Ben, the Aussie athlete god, would rather be spending his school break playing footy with his mates back in Melbourne. He'd also really rather not have his dad's loud girlfriend sharing their American vacation. And he'd definitely like to know how he got interested in the pretty Annabel girl all over again.

Told from the alternating points of view of Annabel, Lucy, Wheaties, and Ben, Two Steps Forward is funny and genuine -- and shows how love can create all kinds of families.

Review Quotes

"The tone of the novel resembles a juicy note scribbled during class. Cohn's four narrators are pitch perfect." -- "School Library Journal"