Kiss & Make Up

Gr 6–9—Sixteen-year-old Emerson Taylor can read peoples' minds, but only while kissing them. Since the day her mother disappeared, she has had this gift, but upon reaching "kissing age," it has made her life more complicated. When she receives her partners' mind-shots, she is also able to gain some of their knowledge. After a miserable first kissing experience causes her to take a two-year hiatus, Emerson finally devises a way to use her talent to her advantage. Faced with failing grades that threaten her school placement, she decides to kiss her way to academic success. All goes well until she starts to fall for one of the boys, a situation for which she had never planned. When he finds out about the others, Emerson has to face her predicament head on if she has any hope of saving her first real relationship. Descriptions of various hues of makeup are used cleverly to tie the narrative together. The situations and reactions ring true for this age group. If this debut novel is any indication of Anderson's talent, it portends well for her future.Colleen Banick, Westport Public Schools, CT