Lucky Penny by Ananth Hirsh and Yuko Ota

When Penny's forced to move out of her apartment, the solution to her homelessness comes via a friend's storage unit - for $100 a month, it's the cheapest rent around! Also, she's out of work - but the same friend's parents own a laundromat and they're hiring.

Things are less than ideal, though. She sweet-talks the receptionist at a local gym so she can use the showers, there's a gang of preteens bent on making trouble, the laundromat is being run by a tyrannical eleven-year-old, and she's got no love life. Good thing she has gran's bodice-ripper romance novels to keep her entertained.

This is a great graphic novel about that "early adult" period when you're our of school and trying to find your way as a newly-minted adult. While the topic could be heavy, it's dealt with in a light manner so it's realistic but not depressing. Penny's overactive imagination lends great comic relief, as she imagines her challenges vanquished by imaginary romantic hero Alistair Lionpride.

Sorta Like a Rock Star by Matthew Quick

Amber Appleton is the princess of hope - she's super involved in tons of community service projects, and she bounces through life with a song in her heart and a smile on her lips. Which is why nobody has figured out yet that she and her mom are homeless (living on a school bus), and that things aren't so rosy in Amber's home life.

In typical Matthew Quick style, this is a fun book full of slang and trendy teen talk. He's a master at getting you inside the head of his fully-formed characters, and Amber's a real prize. While she's doing her best and pulling out all the stops, she's also just as flawed and mis-directed as the rest of us.

Additionally, this book is chock full of other fantastic people: the misfit band of boys with whom Amber hangs, her English-as-a-second-language learners (aka The Korean Divas for Christ), and all the old folks at the Methodist home gathering for her weekly verbal smackdown with a hundred-year-old pessimist, just to name a few.

I loved this book - but then, I haven't read a bad Matthew Quick book yet. Highly recommended.