Waiting on Wednesday (26)

Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard
Release date: March 2011
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Description:
It's hard to find beauty in the badlands of Washokey, Wyoming. Fourteen-year-old Grace Carpenter knows it's not her mother's pageant obsessions, or the cowboy dances and pickup trucks adored by her small-town classmates. True beauty is wild girl Mandarin Ramey: seventeen, shameless and utterly carefree.

Grace would give ANYTHING to be like Mandarin.

When the two misfits are united for a project, they embark on an unlikely, explosive friendship, packed with nights spent skinny-dipping in the canal, liberating the town's animal-head trophies, and constantly searching for someplace magic. Grace even plays along when Mandarin suggests they make a pact to run away together. Blame it on the crazy-making wildwinds that plague their badlands town.

But all too soon, Grace discovers Mandarin's unique beauty hides a girl who's troubled, broken and even dangerous. And no matter how hard Grace fights to keep the magic, even the best friendships can't withstand betrayal.

Sadly, the release date is a long way's away, but still. I love small town settings, misfit characters, and themes that revolve around beauty, pain, and friendships. So doesn't Like Mandarin sound perfect? Except maybe for the name Mandarin... I haven't warmed up to the name yet.

What are you waiting on this week?

(meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.)