Merry Wanderer of the Night + TIME

Review: Inside Out Girl, by Tish Cohen

Rachel Berman is publisher of Perfect Parent magazine. She’s also an extremely overprotective single mother of two: Janie, a rebellious teen still searching for her identity, and twelve-year old Dustin. Len Bean is the single father of ten-year old Olivia, who has a non-verbal learning disorder. Rachel and Len meet when Rachel offers to help Len change a flat tire. Eventually, they begin dating. This is to the chagrin of Janie and Dustin, who know Olivia from school as “The Inside Out Girl”, the girl that wears her clothes wrong-side-out. Olivia is extremely intelligent, but due to her learning disorder, she is unable to pick up on facial and verbal cues, which often results in socially inappropriate behavior. Rachel and Len’s world is suddenly upended and Rachel is forced to deal with hidden secrets from her past. Will she be able to be the perfect parent that she aspires to be, or is this level of perfection unattainable? It is impossible not to fall in love with Cohen’s characters. My personal favorite was Olivia. Olivia’s combination of innocence and vulnerability tugs at your heartstrings. She alone is the individual responsible for joining together two very unlikely families into one.

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Review: Inside Out Girl, by Tish Cohen + TIME