My Not-So-Still Life

Alice and Jewel, the main characters from Gallagher's The Opposite of Invisible (2009), become bit players in this story about 16-year-old Vanessa, an artist (and Jewel's ex) who feels stifled by high school life: "I want to break completely free. I want to be out of bounds, out where it's all color and everything's beautiful, even when it's a mess." And Vanessa creates her share of messes. She adores her best friends Holly and Nick, but alienates both of them, trying to force a connection between Holly and her crush, while pressing Nick, who's gay, to be more confident about his sexuality. More bad decisions follow as Vanessa gets involved with an older skateboarder and attempts to make a statement with public art. For all the trappings of the outsider indie artist that Vanessa flaunts (pink hair, fishnet stockings, miniskirts, job at an art supply store), she's actually quite insecure, na%C3%AFve, and%E2%80%94gasp%E2%80%94normal underneath. That is perhaps where Gallagher's story is most successful: demonstrating that even the most outwardly confident teens often still have a lot of growing up to do. Ages 14%E2%80%93up. (May)