Pieces of Me by Charlotte Gingras

He turns to me. Already! This is not going to be pretty, I can tell, I can tell, I can tell.
"Mirabelle, you didn't follow my instructions. You didn't work with light or color. If you choose not to follow instructions, theere has to be a good reason, right? And you have to work doubly hard..."
He puts my pile of sketches down on his desk and chooses the top one, my favorite, to set on the easel next to Catherine's. The contrast is just aweful, seeing the young broken maple without a single leaf next to the flaming tree. (28)

Mirabelle wants to have some friends who will call here Mira, because Mirabelle is her mother's name for her. Mira gets her wish when the new girl, Cath, takes notice of their mutual talent and love for art. But her new friendship does not help her home life, where she lives in a basement apartment with her unemployed, paranoid mother. Her father visits every so often with the support check, but considering he left Mira behind to care for her mother, she's less than happy with him. When life's troubles become to much and she misreads her art teacher's body language, she's left seeking counseling from a blind red-headed woman. Readers must wait till the very end to find out if Mira is able to pick up the pieces of her broken life in Pieces of Me by Charlotte Gingras.

AMY