Amazon Official Site of Deborah Davis - Author, Speaker, and Teacher Category:  Young Adult/Teen Publisher: Clarion/Houghton Mifflin ISBN-10:  0618720936 Type: Fiction Pages: 268 Copyright: July 16, 2007 ISBN-13: 9780618720934 Not Like You is a complex emotional novel about first love, mother-daughter bonds, alcoholism, and the search for independence. Chapter One On a warm May night, Hal and I lay in each other’s arms on the mattress that filled the back of his van, waiting for the train. I liked this part—the closeness, the warmth of his skin. It felt promising, and it matched his other promises: we’d sail his aunt’s boat on Lake Tawakoni, cruise back roads on his cousin’s motorcycle, drive to a bar in Fort Worth with great bands and a bouncer who couldn’t calculate ages. “Everyone goes,” he’d told me. “You haven’t lived till you’ve been there.” ...... Hal was a senior, two years ahead of me. That was cool—at least, the girls in my sophomore class would have thought so. They didn’t know about Hal and me, though. Nobody did. Not yet. That was about to change. ...... Hal had parked in the dry riverbed, just yards beneath the train trestle. Thin rays of moonlight shot through the front passenger window. There were no windows in the back, so it was kind of dark, which suited me just fine. I didn’t much like being seen, especially with Hal cracking jokes about how we got undressed way too early and would have to time it closer tomorrow night. ...... Hal was giving a party in two nights to celebrate school being over. I knew because I overheard his friends talking about it. This was our third time under the trestle, and still he hadn’t mentioned the party to me. Surely, he’d invite me tonight. ...... Flicking a condom with his fingers, he checked his watch again and grinned. “Ten thirty-three. One minute to go.” ...... Right on schedule, the train whistle blew, Hal’s signal to roll on top of me. The train that crossed the trestle at 10:34 took about two and a half minutes to pass. Hal’s challenge was to start and finish within that amount of time. ...... Overhead, the train thundered past, and Hal squeezed his eyes shut. Closing my own, I tried to block out the grunting boy on top of me by imagining my favorite dog: black and white with a feathery tail. A black muzzle and paws. No pure bred—not for me. My dog was one hundred percent, brilliant mongrel. Part Labrador, part terrier, part shepherd, part whatever. A magical mix and the friendliest, best-behaved mutt you’d ever want to share a walk or a swim or a bed with. All of which I did. ...... He ran next to me, panting. While the van rocked and the train roared, I chased the dog until my heart pounded and my legs burned. We galloped to our house and lay together in the porch hammock and swung and swung and swung. My favorite dog, loyal, gentle, always thrilled to see me. ...... The last train cars rumbled by, and the dog vanished. Hal groaned, slumped against me, and quickly rolled away. In the dim light his face gleamed. “I made it,” he panted. “A perfect night.” ...... I waited for him to say more. The party was only two nights away. ...... He glanced at his watch again. “If we hustle,” he said, “I can even get you home on time.” ...... I pulled on my clothes. He said, “Hey, your T-shirt’s on backward,” and he smiled at me. I turned the shirt around. ...... Two nights till the party. He seemed to like me. There was still time.    Excerpt “Starting a new chapter” is how Kayla’s mother, Marilyn, has always referred to their abrupt moves—five in the past two years. But what Kayla hates even more than moving is Marilyn’s drinking. It once landed Kayla in foster care, so she’ll do whatever it takes to keep her mother from falling apart again. Just until she turns eighteen, less than three years away. Now Marilyn has moved them to New Mexico, and promised, yet again, to quit booze for good. Kayla knows better than to believe her, but something about this move does feel different. Kayla is putting down roots, earning money as a dog walker, and spending time with Remy, a twenty-four-year-old musician. He’s her refuge from Marilyn’s daily struggle to stay sober. And after years of taking care of her mother, Kayla is starting to think of herself and who she wants to be. She knows for sure who she doesn’t want to be. But is she willing to do whatever it takes to create her own life—even if it means leaving her mother behind? Sharply honest and beautifully written, Deborah Davis’s powerful novel is about loving someone else enough to stay with her through anything—and loving yourself enough to let her go.

Association of Children's Librarians
Davis, Deborah. Not Like You
Fic.
Clarion, 2007. 268p. $16.00 978-0-618-72093-4
HIGH ADDITIONAL GRADES 8-12
Fifteen-year-old Kayla's mother Marilyn is an alcoholic who is always trying to go straight-somewhere. She has failed so badly
at times that Kayla has spent two years in foster care. Now they are off and running again, this time to New Mexico. Both Kayla and her mom seem to be turning a corner; Kayla with dog-walking jobs
and a friendship with a smooth-talking 24-year-old aspiring musician; Marilyn with a group called New Horizons and a job at a local diner. The small town is full of interesting characters who are catalysts for both Kayla's and Marilyn's needed changes. Kayla, tired of being her mother's keeper, takes some rash and potentially dangerous actions. Marilyn's determination to do things right this time while slipping, picking up, slipping, and finally coming close to winning rings very true. Kayla is on the
way to learning who she is and what she should do while she allows herself to see the good in her mother at last. The relationships are
very sharply drawn throughout. You want the best for them both and keep your fingers crossed that all will go well. Davis is a local author.
Martha Shogren, Independent