Girl's Girl by Sonia Feldman.
This coming of age novel follows fifteen-year-old Mina over the summer as she navigates first love and friendship complications. It's a debut novel, and I quite enjoyed it.
Mina has two best friends. Her first friend was Margaret, whose parents have recently divorced and who often spends time with her slightly older cousin. As the book begins, she is sharing her first sexual encounter with the friends.
Eleanor is the other friend. She moved to the community later, but the three friends are a cohesive group.
Mina's mother is an involved parent, and she asks that Mina let her know where she is and who she is with, and Mina is a rule follower. She feels close enough to her mother to confide in her. Mina has suddenly realized that she feels differently about Eleanor than about Margaret. She finds herself attracted to Eleanor, but isn't sure that the feeling is mutual, and doesn't know what to do about it.
As it is the summer, the girls are spending a lot of time together, including having sleepovers. When Mina breaks one of the rules her mother set and confesses, she is grounded and worries that this will affect her place in the friendship.
This book brings to life so many things that happen around this age. In terms of sexuality there is curiosity, trepidation, and exploration. There are also feelings around so many things that are changing. For her friend Margaret, the divorce of her parents means another change that is having an influence on their situation, one that is outside of their age-related changes. They have more independence, but that independence isn't complete. This story felt very real to me,
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