Beauty Shop for Rent

Starred review from May 21, 2007
Fourteen-year-old Abbey Garner, the star of Bowers's debut novel, has lived with her great-grandmother Granny Po since her mother abandoned her three years earlier. Abbey believes the women in her family are cursed because, starting with Granny Po, each had a baby by age 17. (“Not only did the women in my family inherit overly fertile eggs, they each married men who were total, complete, and absolute duds.”) Abbey is determined to avoid the same fate; instead, she intends to become a millionaire by age 35. Working at her grandmother's beauty shop and on her neighbor's horse farm, Abbey is well on her way to her financial goal, yet she still hopes to be reunited with her mother. Then Gena Hopkins breezes into town and rents Granny Po's beauty shop, transforming it into a posh day spa and giving Abbey a new job and an ambitious, entrepreneurial role model. During a rare visit, Abbey's mother promises they'll be reunited as soon as she can afford a down payment on a house. Reluctantly, Abbey hands over her savings, but she soon discovers her mother has deceived her. Teens will find Abbey's emotional turmoil rings true, as does the reason behind her final act of forgiveness. But it's the multigenerational friendships—the feisty, sniping conversations with Granny Po and her close circle of friends, “The Widows,” brim with humor—that make Bowers's first novel a delight. Ages 12–up.

April 1, 2007
Gr 6-10-Abbey Garner, 15, has learned a lot from her hardworking great-grandmother, with whom she lives in rural Maryland. They run a beauty shop together, but Granny Po would like to retire and rent it out for profit. Abbey has mixed feelings when Gena arrives in town and arranges to turn Polly's Parlor into a successful day spa, but her ambivalence is quickly overcome when she reaps the benefits of learning about marketing, design, and finances from the newcomer while earning an increased salary. Abbey's goal has been to become a millionaire by age 35, and she's determined to avoid the romantic mistakes that seem to have affected every female in her family, even if it means possibly losing her longtime friendship with handsome Mitch. Although Abbey is happy, she misses her mother, who has a history of substance abuse, and blames her father for abandoning both of them. Then she makes the mistake of loaning her mother all of the money she's worked so hard to earn, so that they could buy a house and live together. Of course, her mother disappears again, and Abbey's search for her turns up a lot of unpleasant truths and family secrets, bringing the teen to a new level of maturity. This deceptively simple book reveals Abbey as a wonderful character who will appeal to a broad spectrum of readers. Her quiet, almost folksy lifestyle demonstrates the powerful impact of a loving family and good mentors."Susan Riley, Mount Kisco Public Library, NY"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2007
A fixture at her grandmothers beauty parlor, Abbey grew up surrounded by the graying clientele andtheir sob stories about no-good men.Such tales, as well as the imploded marriage thatleft Abbey in Granny Pos care, shapedthe ambitious sophomores goal of absolute self-sufficiency: Fairy tales are complete and utter bullcrap.Abbeys no-nonsense viewpoint aside, this warm-spirited novel about female connection has a fairy-talequality about it, especiallyafter strong, wise newcomer Gena takes over the shop. AsGena transforms the parlor into a hopping retro-themed spa, each of the characters is likewise transformedespecially Abbey, whose emotional breakthroughs deal with a major family conflict as well asa bit ofromance. Jacket-blurb comparisons to the filmSteel Magnolias are apt but not particularly current; the witty, multigenerational novels of Joan Bauer mightbe a betterparallel. Althoughlesstightly plotted than Bauers work, this first novel includes numerous well-done elements, with Abbeys careering, conflicted emotions evoked convincingly enough totemper the storys inclinations toward feel-goodsentiment.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)