Lost It by Kirstin Tracy is obviously a Young Adult book (those are my favorite) about a High School Junior named Tess. From the get-go, her life is quite odd yet very familiar. She lives in a house with a religious mother and father, but they aren't completely and utterly zealous about it. She also has this crazy, insane, mad but completely normal best friend who has very large plans to destroy a poodle, which really turns out to be her resentment to her father and his new wife plus child. So, not only does Tess have to worry about her bff who's gone totally bonkers, she's got her parents to worry about, too. Her mother, randomly I should add, kind of loses it. She gathers her things, mostly shoes, and carries them out to a river near their home. Tess helps her, not sure what in the world is going on. Then, suddenly, her mother starts throwing the shoes into the river and packs up her things and flees to Utah (Utah, I mean....I may be biased, but that made me happy to see). She goes there because an inspirational writer has a camp going down out in the desert, and her mother feels that it's time she had some adventure in her life. Her father quickly follows, leaving her with her only care taker, her Grandmother. This Grandma is hip and really helps Tess break out of her comfort zone, especially when it comes to her new beau, Ben. He's very mature and a diabetic, and Tess seems to use that to her advantage, especially when she lies and says she's diabetic as well, automatically giving them both something in common. But there's this thing about Tess, she's afraid of the wild life, such as nature and what not...and she's also not one to have sex before marriage, but Ben changes all that. She loves him, and he loves her, so with the help of her Grandma, (whom buys sexy bras for her granddaughter, awkward yet hilarious) Tess loses it. But things spiral downward for her, yet with her humor and optimism (it slowly works its way in), she attempts to fix the damage she's done. There's nothing like getting a hamster stuck in your cast, or having your shoes explode. Just ask Tess Whistle.
