Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Haunted by guilt that she caused her mother's fatal car accident, Maggie leaves her tenth-grade clique to take up with outsider Dahlia and her crazy family. The accident left Maggie lame, and she feels like Frankenstein. But what bothers her more is her fierce attraction to Dahlia. Does Dahlia love her back? In her first YA novel, McMahon, who has written for adults, weaves in a lot about friends and enemies, home and school, outsiders and their secrets, and too much detail about Dahlia's mentally ill mom (who takes the kids shoplifting) and the music group where Maggie finds a place. There's also too much about outsider kids, including Joey, who lives in a cave to escape his abusive dad. But many teens, gay and straight, will stick with Maggie's first-person, present-tense admission of her passionate love for Dahlia, the prejudice she faces (including her own mixed feelings), her denial, and her joy.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2008 Booklist

School Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Gr 9 Up-Maggie's sense of self was shattered, along with her leg, in a car crash that killed her mother two years ago. Now 15, she is reborn in the alternate identity of "LaSamba," an eager follower in the wild, creative fantasy world of her intoxicating new classmate Dahlia ("Tiki") and her mentally ill mother. In this emotionally powerful and realistic story set in the 1990s in a small town in Connecticut, Maggie loses herself completely in her new identity, and slowly but surely comes to find a true, new self that includes the indisputable-but scary-fact that she is a lesbian and in love with Tiki. Readers are swept along with Maggie's swirling feelings, making it easy to understand how easily this fragile, sensitive girl could lose herself. Secondary characters also have complex emotions and motivations. Had this novel been published 15 years ago, it would've been a groundbreaking addition to LGBT literature; as it is, it still stands strong as a period testament to the anti-"lesbo" feelings of that era, as well as simply a well-written tale of self-discovery. Sex scenes focus on emotion and are not overly explicit.-Rhona Campbell, Washington, DC Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

After Maggie's mother's death in a car accident, Maggie shuts herself off from her peers. She eventually befriends a free-spirited outsider and is surprised to discover herself falling for the girl, Dahlia, who has her own mother troubles. Readers will enjoy the escapism of the girls' imagination-rich life filled with secrets, games, and inside jokes. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

An author for adults shifts her audience to teens with mixed success in this romance about two girls. The slow-paced plot hinges on familiar elements: a teenager whose mother has died, a strong sense of alienation and a surprisingly successful band. Tenth-grader Maggie, who was popular in junior high, attributes her current alienation to the car accident two years earlier that killed her mother, for which Maggie feels guilty. Calling herself "Frankenstein girl" because she limps, Maggie befriends another outsider, the new girl Dahlia. Much of the book details Maggie's growing love for Dahlia and her infatuation with the free-spirited but poor life Dahlia shares with her brother and mentally ill mother. Their romance, which becomes sexual, encounters problems and painful homophobia. The girls also start an implausibly good band with a handsome football star who falls for Dahlia. Although most of the other characters are not fully developed, Maggie and Dahlia grow and change through their romance and pain. Readers who like dreamy, even quasi-mystical, nonconformity may enjoy this slightly dark but ultimately hopeful romance. (Fiction. YA) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.