If you have a teenager, read this book

“Not Like You,” newly out in paperback, is a book that every teenage girl should read. Parents, you can read it too. (It’s also okay to read it if you don’t have a teenage daughter.)

To quote from the book’s “official description”:

An emotionally complex novel for mature teens about first love, mother-daughter bonds, and the search for independence.

“Starting a new chapter” is how Kayla’s mother, Marilyn, has always referred to their abrupt moves—five in the past two years. But what Kayla hates even more than moving is Marilyn’s drinking. It once landed Kayla in foster care, so she’ll do whatever it takes to keep her mother from falling apart again. Just until she turns eighteen, less than three years away.

Now Marilyn has moved them to New Mexico, and promised, yet again, to quit booze for good. Kayla knows better than to believe her, but something about this move does feel different. Kayla is putting down roots, earning money as a dog walker, and spending time with Remy, a twenty-four-year-old musician. He’s her refuge from Marilyn’s daily struggle to stay sober. And after years of taking care of her mother, Kayla is starting to think of herself and who she wants to be. She knows for sure who she doesn’t want to be. But is she willing to do whatever it takes to create her own life—even if it means leaving her mother behind?

Sharply honest and beautifully written, Deborah Davis’s powerful novel is about loving someone else enough to stay with her through anything—and loving yourself enough to let her go.

I’ve known the author, Deborah Davis, for, gosh, 25 years now. Her books, beginning with her delightful young-children’s story, “The Secret of the Seal,” are emotional and wonderful. Authentic. I’m proud to be her friend… unlike me, Deborah is a real writer.

Her other books — for adolescents and their parents — are “You Look Too Young to Be a Mom” (about teen motherhood) and “My Brother Has AIDS.”

Get them. Read them. Pass them on.