Look Both Ways by Alison Cherry

Brooklyn Shepard comes from a theatrical family. They are singers, directors, producers, coaches (her mother is a noted voice coach) and for the most part they love to perform. Every Monday night is Family Night when friends and family gather at the Shepard’s Manhattan apartment and perform. Brooklyn gets away with being the piano accompanist and composing parodies with her Uncle Harrison.

This summer Brooklyn is attending the Allerhale Playhouse as an intern. Her parents, uncle and their friends were all once interns there. There she is supposed to get her first chance to really perform on stage, so she is totally upset that the only acting role she has is in an experimental piece which will be performed in an ancillary theater. She can’t bear to tell her parents since her mother has made it clear that she hates such productions, so she lies and says she is in Bye Bye Birdie.

Brooklyn’s roommate is the gorgeous, talented, Zoe, and she’s surprised when Zoe wants to be her friend. (She’s keeping her parent’s notoriety a secret because she wants to be befriended for herself, not her parents.) Her relationship with Zoe soon becomes something more than mere friendship. Brooklyn has had a boyfriend or two but never a girlfriend (although she knows her parents would be OK with that kind of relationship). This relationship brings up a lot of diverging feelings, which she deals with throughout the book.

Look Both Ways by Alison Cherry is a charming book. Brooklyn and Zoe are both great characters and you can feel the emotions they each exhibit. The remainder of the Shepard family and friends are just how you would envision a theatrical group, boisterous, emotive, and loving. I’m not sure the ending is how we would imagine it from the beginning of the book, but it is realistic and satisfying.

All in all, Look Both Ways is a rewarding read in every respect.