Red Flags and Butterflies - by Sheryl Azzam (Paperback)

About the Book

"Straight A student, swim team star, talented painter tenth-grader Lexie has worked hard to become the perfect applicant for Sunridge High s prestigious fine art program. She's even got a shot at a swimming scholarship. Everyone she loves is supportive of her application. Everyone, that is, except her dad. Lexie s dad doesn t see the point of some overpriced art school. He wants Lexie and her brother, Jonah, at home to help launch his new renovation business. The work will cut into Lexie s already overloaded schedule, but the idea of refusing her dad makes her stomach churn with anxiety. So she agrees to help, just for a little while. If she supports his plan, then he ll have to support hers, right? It's only fair. But Lexie and her dad have different definitions of fair. Soon, Lexie must make an impossible choice between being who her dad wants her to be, and being true to herself."--

Book Synopsis

"A tender, heartfelt, and intelligent coming-of-age story that celebrates quiet strength and trusting your instincts." Starred Review -- Kirkus Reviews

Straight A student, talented artist, swim team star -- tenth-grader Lexie Moore is a shoo-in for Sunridge High's prestigious fine art program, if only she can find the right words to tell her dad she wants to apply.

Lexie's dad doesn't see the point of some overpriced art school. He wants Lexie and her brother at home to help him launch his new renovation business. He says he can't do this without her, so Lexie agrees to pitch in, just for a little while. If she supports his plan, then he'll have to support hers, right? It's only fair.

But Lexie's dad has a very different definition of "fair," and as his demands increase, his means of getting his way become more and more suffocating.

Red Flags and Butterflies is an engrossing story about a young person facing the realities of emotional abuse.

Review Quotes

"A tender, heartfelt, and intelligent coming-of-age story that celebrates quiet strength and trusting your instincts." Starred Review-- "Kirkus Reviews"