Painting Caitlyn

By Kimberly Joy Peters

Book Overview

Everything in Caitlyn's life is going down the drain. Her artistic talent seems to be failing, her best friend is ditching her for a new boyfriend, and her mother and stepfather have gone to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1897073402
• ISBN13: 9781897073407
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: Lobster Press
• Length: 189 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.2" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 14 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12

Customer Reviews

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

Remember your first serious relationship? The breathless excitement, nervousness, and giddiness that comes when you realize that he likes you? Caitlyn can't believe how lucky she is. She first meets Tyler at an amusement park, in the splash pool. The attraction is immediate and mutual, and the timing couldn't be better. Her best friend, Ashley, is totally engrossed in Brandon, her boyfriend of eight months. And at home, she feels less than invisible. The latest insult is moving to the basement so her room can be turned into a nursery. Her mother and stepfather are finally going to have their perfect baby, a baby they've been trying for for years. It seems they've forgotten that Caitlyn even exists. At first, Caitlyn convinces herself that she's not changing. She's doing what every other girl does who wants to be with her boyfriend. If she really loves him, she should try to please him, right? She ignores the inner voices that wonder why she's not talking to Ashley about her relationship with Tyler. She lets Tyler talk her into doing things that she would never have considered before. When she realizes that she can't paint a smiling self-portrait she begins to look beyond the euphoria of new love and finds support and forgiveness from her family and friends. Teen feelings of being alive and loved, truly loved, for the first time, mixed with the uncertainty, stubbornness, and incredibly strong desire to please, are vividly portrayed in this debut novel. Ms. Peters does a beautiful job of immersing the reader in the heady feeling of young love. PAINTING CAITLYN was a very enjoyable read. Reviewed by: Cana Rensberger

Candid look at a tough subject

"Painting Caitlyn" draws an honest portrait of young girl's struggle to acknowledge her abusive relationship. While teen readers will certainly relate to the confusion and excitement Caitlyn experiences in the midst of her first love, they will also cheer as Caitlyn not only stands up to Tyler's abuse, but is finally able to face herself with full clarity and acceptance.

Excellent

I am an adult who enjoys a good teen book. Painting Caitlyn is such a book. Taking an honest, hard look at relationship and how easily it is to get manipulated when you are in love and trying to please. Although this is a novel, it is a powerful story of personal responsibility and an excellent read for all teens who are dating or are thinking of dating. Very well written and deep. Only negative, the book is too short.

Painting Caitlyn is amazing. I couldn't stop reading.

The author of Painting Caitlyn totally got it right...she got all of the feelings that go along with a first kiss and a first betrayal and made it feel like it was happening to me. I have never been abused like Caitlyn ends up being but I now see that this is happening to a friend of mine. I'm going to give my friend the book. Because I don't think this is a book that lectures at all. You're enjoying reading and then all of a sudden the character's world is like totally out of control. Everything sneaks up on Caitlyn and suddenly her boyfriend's love which had seemed perfect, suddenly his love isn't a good thing at all: his affection is like being trapped in a never ending nightmare. I loved this book.