Waiting on Wednesday (14): Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine to showcase unreleased novels that we're waiting for anxiously. This week I've chosen:

--

Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard

Pub. Date: March 8, 2011

Summary: It's hard finding beauty in the badlands of Washokey, Wyoming, but 14-year-old Grace Carpenter knows it's not her mother's pageant obsessions, or the cowboy dances adored by her small-town classmates. True beauty is wild-girl Mandarin Ramey: 17, shameless and utterly carefree. Grace would give anything to be like Mandarin. When they're united for a project, they form an unlikely, explosive friendship, packed with nights spent skinny-dipping in the canal, liberating the town's animal-head trophies, and searching for someplace magic. Grace plays along when Mandarin suggests they run away together. Blame it on the crazy-making wildwinds plaguing their Badlands town. Because all too soon, Grace discovers Mandarin's unique beauty hides a girl who's troubled, broken, and even dangerous. And no matter how hard Grace fights to keep the magic, no friendship can withstand betrayal.

--

Why I chose Like Mandarin: The cover caught my eye in its simplicity, and the summary sounded really good. Just another book to add to my ever-growing to-read stack.