Water Balloon

Marleys life is as precarious as an overfull water balloonone false move and everything will burst. Her best friends are pulling away from her, and her parents, newly separated, have decided she should spend the summer with her dad in his new house, with a job she didnt ask for and certainly doesnt want. On the upside is a cute boy who loves dogs as much as Marley does . . . but young love has lots of opportunity for humiliation and misinterpreted signals. Luckily Marley is a girl who trusts her instincts and knows the truth when she sees it, making her an immensely appealing character and her story funny, heartfelt, and emotionally true.

Audrey Vernick is the author of the picture books Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten?, She Loved Baseball, and the forthcoming Brothers at Bat. She has published short stories for adults and twice received the New Jersey State Council of the Arts' fiction fellowship. She lives with her family in New Jersey. Visit her at www.audreyvernick.com.