Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn

From Amazon: After getting tossed from her posh boarding school, wild, willful, and coffee addicted Cyd Charisse returns to San Francisco to live with her parents. But there's no way Cyd can survive in her parents' pristine house. Lucky for Cyd she's got Gingerbread, her childhood rag doll and confidante, and her new surfer boyfriend.
When Cyd's rebelliousness gets out of hand, her parents ship her off to New York City to spend the summer with "Frank real-dad," her biological father. Trading in her parents for New York City grunge and getting to know her bio-dad and step-sibs is what Cyd has been waiting for her whole life. But summer in the city is not what Cyd expects -- and she's far from the daughter or sister that anyone could have imagined.

Simon Pulse, $7.99

I found this in a local charity shop so didn’t realise it’s an American publication – it’s available if you are able to order online.

This was my first Rachel Cohn book and I enjoyed it. Cyd Charisse certainly has a very unique voice – at first I wasn’t sure I was going to like her she was so ‘in your face’ but she soon grew on me. I liked her no holds barred attitude and the way she spoke.

The book is really quirky – one of the characters is a doll called gingerbread (hence the title)! – but is great fun too. The main drew of the book for me were the different relationships – Cyd and Shrimp, Cyd and her family and Cyd and her ‘bio dad’ (and his family). The dynamics of these were really interesting and I especially liked her banter with her half-brother.

I have already bought the second book called Shrimp (which is available in the UK) and there is also a third called Cupcake