I Am Not Starfire by Mariko Tamaki, Yoshi Yoshitani

Seventeen-year-old Mandy, daughter of Starfire, is NOT like her mother. Starfire is gorgeous, tall, sparkly, and a hero. Mandy is NOT a sparkly superhero.

Mandy has no powers, is a kid who dyes her hair black and hates everyone but her best friend Lincoln. To Starfire, who is from another planet, Mandy seems like an alien, like some distant angry light years away moon. And it s possible Mandy is even more distant lately, ever since she walked out on her S.A.T.s.

Which, yeah, her mum doesn t know. Everyone thinks Mandy needs to go to college and become whoever you become at college, but Mandy has other plans. Mandy's big plan is that she's going to move to France and do whatever people do in France.

But then everything changes when she gets partnered with Claire for a school project. Mandy likes Claire (even if she denies it, heartily and intensely). A lot.

How do you become the person you're supposed to be when you don t know what that is? How do you become the person you're supposed to be when the only thing you're sure of is what you're not? When someone from Starfire s past arrives, Mandy must make a choice: give up before the battle has even begun, or step into the unknown and risk everything to save her mom. I am Not Starfire is a story about teenagers and/as aliens; about knowing where you come from and where you are going; and about mothers.

Paperback / 208 pages