For Keeps - by Natasha Friend (Paperback)

About the Book

Josie has never met her dad. To Josie, Paul Tucci is just a guy who got her mom pregnant and then moved away. But now Paul Tucci is back in town, and Josie has to deal with not one but two men in her life--her father and her first boyfriend.

Book Synopsis

A young teen finds out what happens when a girl gets the guy she always wanted and the dad she never knew she needed.

"Fast-paced and full of little twists, Josie's story is a sweet and savvy coming-of-age tale. Hopeful and endearing."--Kirkus Reviews

Getting the guy you never knew you needed . . .

For sixteen years, Josie Gardner and her mom, Kate, have been a team. It's been the Gardner Girls against the world, and that's how Josie likes it. Until one day, they find out that Paul Tucci--Kate's high school boyfriend and the father Josie has never met--is back in town. As Josie's mom falls back into her heartbroken teenage self, Josie is trying to navigate her first real relationship, fearing that history will repeat itself.

Now Josie has to deal with two men in her life; the dad she never knew and her first real boyfriend. When Josie learns some surprising truths about Paul Tucci and the past, she begins questioning what she thought she knew about her parents . . . and herself.

Review Quotes

"Fast-paced and full of little twists, Josie+s story is a sweet and savvy coming-of-age tale. Hopeful and endearing."--Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Natasha Friend was born to an English professor father and a poet/actress mother. She was raised in a house without a television. At the time, she thought this was the worst form of child abuse. Now, she understands the method to her parents' madness: they wanted her to be a reader. Spending most of her childhood at the Hamilton Public Library, Natasha found her mecca, the young-adult section, and her hero, Judy Blume. She, too, wanted to write stories about girls who felt alone. Girls whose parents were screw-ups. Girls with spunk and spirit and resolve.

Natasha began dictating stories to her father, who typed them up on his 1930's Remington typewriter. Most involved rainbows, unicorns, and poor orphan girls discovering treasure. She knew she was supposed to be a writer in seventh grade, when a sweet boy gave her a love poem and she felt compelled to correct it for syntax and rhyme scheme. Today, Natasha is the award-winning author of Perfect, Lush, Bounce, For Keeps, and My Life in Black and White. When she isn't writing, she is building forts and making chocolate-chip pancakes. Natasha lives on the Connecticut shoreline with her husband, three children, and dog, Beckett.