Even though it's been two years since Molly Byrne freaked out at her high-school swim meet, the thought of socializing is still paralyzing. She is more than happy to spend her summer working with her cute friend Alex at FishTopia, where she can relax enough to be herself and watch Golden Girls reruns on the shop's TV all day. Despite weekly therapy sessions, Molly's depression continues to cast a shadow over her life. Perhaps that's why her mother is trying to cheer her up by baking a new cake every day. Goldhagen focuses on the challenges of moderate depression, realistically depicting Molly's malaise rticularly her relationship with family and self-destructive tendency to keep people at a distance. Also under the microscope is Molly's therapist's questionable conduct. The sweltering Florida heat forms a fitting backdrop for Molly's summer blues, made worse when she gets the news that FishTopia is closing. During a last-ditch effort to save the shop, Molly makes personal revelations that might just let her save herself as well.

A 17-year-old girl grapples with depression, insecurity, and unresolved trauma from her father's death in a car accident 14 years earlier. Molly spends her summer working at FishTopia, a business that lacks customers but doesn't want for grunge. But Molly loves the job; it usually entails watching reruns of Golden Girls while sitting on the countertop, sharing takeout food with her co-worker Alex, a cute, funny guy she loves hanging with but whom she's decidedly undecided about. Meanwhile, she's crushing on her 30-something therapist, who is trying to ease her depression and her ginormous self-esteem issues and to work out her feelings about her dead father. What's more, Molly suspects her younger sister, who looks like a Victoria's Secret model, is dating Alex. And, her mother has latched onto a crazy idea—that baking her daughter a different cake each day for 100 days might cheer her up. Many readers will identify with Molly as she struggles with debilitating self-doubt and flaccid interest in making college plans amid friends who seem positively sugar-highed when discussing SATs and university prospects. The cast is largely white. Teen humor abounds, as do topics of Hot Topic-loving girls, local boy-bands, hemp handbags, and annoying younger brothers. Some readers may be troubled by plausibility issues—a cake a day? Really?—and a case of sexual abuse is disturbingly left unresolved. Still, for a book about depression, this is a pretty enjoyable one. (Fiction. 14-18)

Gr 10 Up-Molly, a senior, grapples with love and life changes in this contemporary YA title. Molly adores her job at FishTopiashe gets to watch reruns of Golden Girls episodes and hang out with her crush, Alex. Veronica, Molly's sister, is younger and seems to be hanging out with the wrong crowd, while their mother embarks on a new obsession, which is to make one cake a day for 100 days. The protagonist struggles to balance a slew of abrupt changes: FishTopia is set to close its doors for good, Veronica and Alex appear to be dating, and Dr. B., Molly's therapist, becomes too close for comfort. Molly, endearingly likable, strives to save her sister, her workplace, and her relationships in this angsty novel. The cake motif, forced into the narrative at random, feels out of place until the very end, when everything coalesces into an "aha!" moment. This book's mature themescursing, sexual situations, and an underage relationshipmake this a good fit for older teens.

Molly and her family live in a model home designed by a house stager, with the perfect furniture, fixtures, and toys; but Molly's life is far from perfect. Diagnosed as clinically depressed, Molly has been struggling for over a year. Despite drugs and counseling, her grades have fallen and her tentative balance is easily thrown off with any mention of senior year or change. She finds anchors in her best friend, her therapist, and FishTopia, a saltwater fish store where she works and watches Golden Girls re-runs. Then one day, the boss walks in to say FishTopia is being sold. Soon after, Molly's relationship with her therapist turns decidedly dark, and her sister disappears.The bulk of this story is about Molly dealing with her depression (not necessarily well) and her friends' and family's reactions. The titular cake refers to Molly's mom trying to cheer her up by baking a different cake every day for 100 days (no recipes involved). Molly's character is the best part of this book. The reader feels with her, understanding her frustration at being treated with kid gloves, her annoyance with the cakes, and her fascination with her therapist. At the same time, some plot points are awkward in a book which is, at its best, a character study. Did Molly really need to kiss her therapist 235 pages in? Why is there no comeuppance for the therapist when he makes a drunken pass? Molly's familial interactions are more believable and more in tune with the characters as they have been portrayed early in the book. This volume ends on an optimistic note: Molly has a new therapist and a new understanding of her family, friends, and change. How realistic the seemingly sudden change is would be a good starting point for discussions among readers.Beth Karpas.