At First Sight: Things aren't going well for Lucy and her family as the debts pile up and the pharmacy they have owned since forever isn't bringing in much money anymore. Since she loves being in the pharmacy, Lucy constantly worries about the future of the place she considers her second home, much as her mom and grandma tell her not to worry, she can't help it.
When the local homecoming queen comes into the pharmacy with a hair emergency, Lucy's obsession with beauty products - and the many hours she has put reading all the labels - come in handy and she saves the day.
From then on, not only she becomes Old Mill's go-to make-up artist/beauty consultant, but she also starts to hatch a plan that might very well salve the pharmacy, particularly after she combines it with all the things she's been learning at Earth club. If only people would listen to her!!
Second Glance: My Life in Green and Pink is a completely adorable book! I loved Lucy, she was a great narrator and while she loved all things "save the Earth" she was also very girly and practical and didn't let her idealism blind her to reality - unlike her Mom who was exactly the 'save the Earth' type that I hate.
The pharmacy drama takes a big chunk of the story, but I also loved reading about other aspects of Lucy's life, like her best friend Sunny - who was dealing with her first crush ever! - and the whole beauty tips aspect of it, plus it was cute to see Lucy discover her own first crush.
Each chapter opens with either a beauty tip or a 'green' tip, and I loved how practical both of them were. Lucy has a lovely attitude about make up: that it's there to enhance the beauty you already have, not to make you look like someone else; and she also has a very good attitude about ecology: that you don't have to do big, complicated, expensive things to make a difference. And it still manages not to be a preachy book which I appreciated.
Bottom Line: This is a very sweet book with MG/YA crossover potential (Lucy is 12), and you don't have to be a make up fan or a ecology fan to enjoy it. It's sweet, funny and completely age appropriate - and so, so cute!
Favorite Quote: "I've always been... interested in making women look as beautiful as possible while making them look like themselves." - Lauren Mercier (Lucy's make up artist role model).
