This week's book pick is Absolute Brightness by James Lecesne.
15-year old Phoebe cannot believe her mother is allowing her cousin Leonard to come live with their family. Phoebe thinks she's okay with "different" (as she says, "I am different"), but Leonard brings "different" to a level beyond Phoebe's sphere of comfortability. Soon, Leonard's over-the-top personality has wormed its way into the hearts of Phoebe's mother and of her mother's hair salon clients, but Phoebe's not so easily impressed. She would no sooner take the advice Leonard deals out so copiously to everyone he meets than believe she could ever be friends with him. But when Leonard disappears, Phoebe realizes she never knew what Leonard meant in her life until it's clear he's not coming back.