Your Friend in Fashion, Abby Shapiro — Amy Axelrod

Deeply affecting and laugh-out-loud funny, this coming-of-age novel captures the temper of the times and introduces readers to an unforgettable young heroine.

The lightbulb of good ideas is burning bright for eleven-year-old Abby Shapiro. As personal fashion designer for Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy, Possible Future First Lady of the United States, she'll become famous and earn enough money to buy both a Barbie doll and a bra. Abby decides to get in touch immediately. In her letters to Jackie, she shares her wry, insightful observations along with her drawings and fashion tips. The letters help Abby through a tumultuous year in which her father abandons the family, her gangster uncle falls in love, her beloved aunt suffers a stroke, and her relationship with her mother goes from bad to worse. This book is based in part on the author's childhood and is illustrated with paper dolls she made when she was Abby's age.