The Totally True Story of Gracie Byrne — Shannon Takaoka

Gracie feels like a minor character in her own life story -- until a mysterious journal turns her fictional stories into reality. It's 1987, and sixteen-year-old Gracie Byrne wishes her life were totally different. Shy and awkward, she has trouble fitting in at her new school, she's still reeling from her parents' divorce, and her grandmother Katherine's Alzheimer's is getting worse. So when Gracie finds a blank journal in Katherine's vanity drawer, she begins writing stories about herself -- a more popular version of herself, that is. But then the hot guy in her art class describes a dream he had about her -- the exact scene she wrote about him in her journal -- and Gracie realizes that she can create any reality she wants, from acing tests to winning the attention of her previously indifferent classmates. As her ability to change what is into what she wishes it to be grows stronger, though, Gracie starts to second-guess what's real -- especially when it comes to a budding relationship with her cute neighbor, Tom. This compelling story deftly blends friendship, family, and romance . . . and bends the bounds of reality itself.