Say the Word

Everyone in Shawna Gallagher's life expects perfection and Shawna does her best to oblige. She gets good grades, dates the right boys, and is tirelessly polite. But when her estranged mother dies suddenly, Shawna's not sure how to have the "perfect" reaction. She's still angry that her mother left ten years ago and embarrassed that she started a new family with another woman. Shawna's grief is further clouded by the step-brothers who knew her mother better than she did-this was her mother, not theirs.

But when Shawna's controlling father gets involved, Shawna realizes she may not know the whole truth about the past. As the family secrets continue to unravel, perfection becomes more and more difficult to achieve.

Jeannine Garsee has delivered a compulsively readable novel, from the dramatic story full of family secrets, to the very real, honest narrator who feels both recognizable and relatable.