In her new novel, The Girl with the Mermaid Hair (HarperTeen), critically-acclaimed author, screenwriter and playwright Delia Ephron explores what happens when a teenage girl's vanity and insecurity collide with her mother's hysteria about aging.
Sukie Jamieson spends her life taking pictures of herself, snapping "selfies" with her phone. She lives in a family so upside-down that they ask the dog for advice. When her mother gives Sukie her grandmother's mirror, Sukie ignores her mother's warning: "This mirror will be your best friend and worst enemy." As the mirror begins to crack, so does Sukie's tightly controlled life, and she is forced to confront the truths about herself and her family that lie beneath perfection.
With profound relevancy in today's beauty obsessed culture, The Girl with the Mermaid Hair manages to explore issues of body image, plastic surgery, and the ever complicated relationship between mother and daughter through Sukie's funny and touching story.
Ephron, who is currently represented Off Broadway as co-author (with
Nora Ephron) of the hit show Love, Loss, and What I Wore, is no stranger to writing about teens. Her first YA novel, Frannie in Pieces, received four starred reviews, was a Booksense Pick, and was named to the New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age list. Ephron is also the author of Big City Eyes, Hanging Up, and How to Eat Like a Child. Her screenwriting credits include The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, You've Got Mail, Bewitched, Hanging Up, and Michael. She lives in New York City with her husband and their dog Honey Pansy Cornflower Bernice Mambo Kass.
