Sassy Cyd Charisse returns in Shrimp, the “compelling…and light-hearted” ( Publishers Weekly , starred review) sequel to the sharp and funny novel Gingerbread . If Cyd Charisse knows one thing, it’s that Shrimp is her true love. Shrimp, the hottest pint-size surfer-artist in San Francisco. That boy (as her mother called him), who was the primary cause of Cyd being grounded to Alcatraz, formerly known as her room. The boy who dumped Cyd before she left home to spend the summer in New York City. Now it’s the start of senior year. Cyd has changed, but maybe Shrimp has changed too—and maybe Cyd and Shrimp will need to get to know each other all over again to figure out if it’s for real. Can Cyd get back together with Shrimp and keep the peace with her mom? And can she get a life outside of her all-encompassing boy radar? This sequel to Gingerbread has all the sharp humor and searing attitude of the original, which ELLEgirl praised as “not just Another Teen Novel” and Teen People called “unforgettable.” In Shrimp, Cyd might be a little older and a little wiser, but she’s still the same irrepressible free spirit determined to find her own way in the world, on her own terms. *"Compelling....The memorable heroine's light-hearted, sassy narration will enthrall her fans, and win over new recruits." ― Publishers Weekly, starred review "Continuing the story begun in Gingerbread , this delightful teen title is funny, poignant, and memorable. Readers will laugh over the pickles Cyd Charisse gets into, and they will nod wisely as they read about the incredible discoveries that she stumbles across." ― Through the Looking Glass Book Review *"[Cyd Charisse] remains a reassuring counterbalance, a voice that yields to no one in intoxicating style but underpins it with real substance about the last step into adulthood." ― BCCB, starred review *"[Cyd Charisse's] impressively original, partly stream-of-consciousness voice sounds like a real, well-educated rebellious teenage girl." ― Kirkus Reviews, starred review "[Fans] of Cyd's opinionated, rebellious voice, balanced by just the right amount of humanizing vulverability, will drink in this continuation of her story like a caffeine addicts presented with double shots of espresso." ― Horn Book "Cyd Charisse is a wonderful creation, and fans who enjoyed the first book of her adventures will be eager to read this one." ― KLIATT "Cohn's humor is right on." ― School Library Journal "[Startling] and honest." ― Booklist Rachel Cohn is the bestselling author of You Know Where to Find Me, Gingerbread, Shrimp, Cupcake, Pop Princess , and, with David Levithan, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist , Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List , and Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares as well as the tween novels The Steps and Two Steps Forward . Born in Washington, DC, she graduated from Barnard College in New York and has lived on both coasts. She lives in Los Angeles. Visit her at RachelCohn.com. shrimp Chapter 1 My little sister Ashley officially took custody of my doll Gingerbread on my seventeenth birthday. You may say that seventeen is a little old to finally be relinquishing a childhood doll, but Gingerbread was no ordinary doll. She had been my lifelong soul sister number one, the cherished rag doll that was the one decent thing my bio-dad, Frank, had ever given me that wasn’t a trust fund, genetic mutant tallness, or a summer in New York just spent with him that revealed he was a world-class dawg. And anyway if you did say How old are you to still be carrying a doll? I would just give you a blank look back like, Why do you care? I was dead asleep b-day morning when I felt my new futon mattress shaking. My dreams told me to get out of bed and into the doorway: earthquake. The feel of flannel pjs rubbing my arms and the smell of hyper munchkins’ Cocoa Puffs breath told my sleep otherwise. I opened my eyes to see the faces of my half-sibs, Ashley and Joshua. “Happy Birthday, Cyd Charisse’s Pieces!” Ash said in what sounded like basic yelling but was probably an attempt at a song. The futon frame creaked under her weight as she jumped on the bed. Ash is a second grader in age, but a fifth grader in weight percentile. The actual fifth grader, Josh, attempted to roll himself into the futon mattress, as if he wanted to mummify himself in it. Perhaps asking for the new futon as a birthday present to replace the old puke princess four-poster bed that used to be in my room—my mother’s decorator’s plot to curse my sleep—was not my smartest idea ever. Ash said, “Guess what Mommy and Daddy got you for your birthday!” “You’re ruining it right now!” I groaned. I grabbed her and pulled her down onto the bed next to me. Ash and Josh were asleep when I’d returned the night before from New York, so this was the first time I’d seen them since getting home to San Francisco. I’d only been gone a few weeks that felt like an eternity, so I needed to see if Josh and