The Year of Living Awkwardly runs the reader rapidly through the life of high school sophomore Chloe Snow. The author, Emma Chastain, compels the reader through this emotional year with Chloe and her classmates as she works at the pool concession stand, plans to go to dances, hilariously prepares for and takes the PSAT, terrifyingly attends traffic safety classes, and flubs trying out for the school musical. If that isn’t enough drama, her parents have separated and are proceeding with a divorce. Chloe lives with her attorney dad while her writer mom has moved to Mexico with the boyfriend. Can Chloe forgive her mom for leaving? or her dad for dating Chloe’s English teacher? Can Chloe even figure out who her real friends are amongst the teen drama at school? Chastain presents a sophomore girl who is unfiltered, sexually aware and floundering to find love in most of the wrong ways. Some readers will be put off by this girl’s choices, though no doubt there are girls who have lived parallel lives to Chloe’s by the age of 16. The teenage angst is dripping from this novel as Chloe is battling how to be true to herself as she trusts and loves others. This is an additional purchase for upper high school students.