Brief thoughts about a few Cybils nominees.

The Education of Hailey Kendrick, by Eileen Cook

In a nutshell: Being a teenager is hard even if you're rich.

Cute (if not particularly memorable) little romantic comedy about learning to move outside of your comfort zone.

Glitz, by Philana Marie Boles

In a nutshell: Sometimes, bad girls DON'T have a heart of gold.

A quick read about finding the balance between responsibility and freedom. A quick pick for hip-hop aficionados, although it should be mentioned that the Bad Girl is quite two-dimensional.

Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy, by Bil Wright

In a nutshell: Following your dreams can be difficult, especially in the cutthroat world of cosmetics.

The confidence that Carlos Duarte has in his abilities as a makeup artist and the certainty he has in who he is made this mostly lightweight story especially enjoyable. The strongest part for me, though, was the is-he-or-isn't-he subplot about Carlos' crush on Gleason Kraft, who is a character interesting enough to carry his own book.

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Book sources: ILLed through my library.