EVERYTHING NICE

Author: Ellen Shanman ISBN: 9780385340533 8/2008 FICTION Publisher: BANTAM DISCOVERY

Fiercely independent and seriously lacking in social graces, Mike Edwards doesn’t do sugar and spice. Instead she writes great copy and stays above the fray—until mishandled office politics get her unexpectedly fired. Suddenly the young ad hotshot finds herself doing the unimaginable: moving back in with her widowed father, hiding from her lecherous mentor, rethinking her entire career—and trying to unravel complex feelings for her best guy pal, an Aussie journalist named Gunther. For Mike, a few wrenching twists of fate are leading to a job she never expected: teaching “life skills” to seventh-grade girls. But sometimes the best makeovers are the ones you never see coming. Because with a classroom full of kids who need her, a best friend who’s fast becoming something more, and a family she’s only just discovering, Mike has a few surprises in store…and she’s about to discover that going places in life doesn’t have to mean going it on your own.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Ellen Shanman sets her women's lit EVERYTHING NICE in New York City, where Michaela (Mike) Edwards is such a badass that when her boss gets fired, so does she, because nobody at her ad agency wants to work with her. She's such a badass that her standup comedian ex-boyfriend is serving her up to audiences across the country and on national television as "ManLady," where she wore the pants in the relationship and he regained custody of his balls when he left.

Shanman has the most refreshingly original voice I've read in ages. Although Mike is statuesque and gorgeous even without makeup, she alienates women and men worship her from afar. But once they get close enough, they recoil from her sting. All except for her best "mate" and drinking buddy, Guther, an Aussie journalist. He patiently waits for her to see that he's always there for her. One of the roots of Mike's problems is having grown up as an only child to a man grieving his wife's untimely death by an air conditioner falling off a building. She's never learned social graces, but can fish and play soccer like nobody's business.

Mike finally gets desperate enough to find out what she's been doing wrong, so she starts hanging out in the comedy clubs listening to Jay's jokes about her. When she gets low enough on funds that she's about to get evicted, she finds her only recourse is to move back in with her dad (at 30 years old!) and his newly announced fiancé. To top it off, she gets cornered into teaching a "Life Skills" class to a bunch of eleven year-old girls. She takes a different tack with them, explaining that people can actually survive in the world without knowing how to bake brownies from scratch or be able to knit cozies for iPods; what they really need to survive are street smarts and confidence which she has in spades. The girls embrace Mike and her badass ways and teach her a thing or two about supporting each other and not being quite so abrasive.

Make sure to have a box of tissues nearby when reading EVERYTHING NICE if you are anything like me and react tenderly to dead mother stories. The love story between Mike and Gunther kind of sneaks up on us. Mike keeps attacking him like a Whack-a-Mole yet thankfully, despite her gruff ways and inability to trust, Gunther keeps popping up.

EVERYTHING NICE is smart, funny, and thoroughly satisfying. I can't wait to go find some more of Shanman's writing!

Susan Barton