Hallie is the focal point of her class, the queen of senior year, but after high school--what? All her friends go off to college, but Hallie is sick of school. But what else is there? ( )

I love this "anti-romance" of how Hallie, former high school centerpiece, does not enter college and must struggle to learn to live in the "real world" alone and four years earlier than her friends. She must make new friends, get to really know her mother, and find a job she is truly suited for. Hallie is likable and her struggles very real. ( )