Summer Sage by Monica Crosson

Olivia Smith viewed the world through a narrow window. Her ideals were as blurred and bumpy as old glass- and her opinions were based on what she assumed lie beyond her limited view. But the summer Olivia turned 13, things changed. An unusual heat settled on her small town- strange feelings for Jared Wahl, the neighbor boy she had grown up with, began to stir- and, most horribly, her beautiful, rich cousin, Penelope, the daughter of an Ethiopian super model, had come to stay with them while her parents were in Europe. With the help of an eccentric old woman named Ms. Stella, the girls, opposites in every way, learn acceptance and glean wisdom from an unlikely source- each other. This book is a celebration of womanhood in all its incarnations- be it the naïve ideals of a 13 year old girl- or the hardened wisdom and fun musings of an 85 year old woman.