"Annemarie Wilcox ˜ called Shug by her family, after Shug Avery in The Color Purple ˜ is 12. Unlike her beautiful sister, Celia, she is ''not the kind of girls boys like...My hair is like dirty straw. It just sits at my shoulder and hangs.... My eyes are brown, the muddy kind of brown you get when you mix a bunch of watercolors together.... I am tall, too tall for my age, and I have no womanly curves to speak of. But worst of all are my freckles....'' Her looks are a major problem because she's got a big crush on the boy next door. Even worse, she's about to start middle school. As if the usual travails of adolescence weren't bad enough, her mom nips a bit too much at the wine bottle, and her parents have begun to fight. And yet, by book's end ˜ thanks to a mortifying school dance ˜ Shug learns to believe in herself. As this delightful, utterly realistic first novel shows, Han hasn't forgotten what it's like to be 12. A-"

...Entertainment Weekly.com

"Han's heartfelt first novel persuasively expresses the woes of Annemarie "Shug" Wilcox during her first year of junior high. As the boys and girls at school start warming up to each other, flat-chested, freckle-faced Shug finds herself left out in the cold. Her best friend, Elaine, is "wrapped up" in her relationship with new boyfriend Hugh, while the boy Shug likes-longtime friend Mark-has started to act distant towards her. To add insult to injury, he asks another girl to the upcoming seventh-grade dance. Meanwhile, tensions mount in the Wilcox household as fights between Shug's parents (caused by her father's prolonged absences and her mother's drinking binges) intensify. Shug feels all alone, like she's the only seventh grader with problems, until she is assigned to tutor her nemesis, Jack, who, as it turns out, can relate to her troubles. With its distinct Southern flavor, its presentation of universal conflicts and a cast of characters sure to be recognizable to readers, this book will likely draw a wide audience. If themes are a little well worn, the author refrains from offering a conventional, sugar-coated ending that ties up all loose ends. Yet the heroine gains enough self-confidence and self-esteem to suggest that the rest of her ride through junior high will probably be less bumpy."

...Publishers Weekly

"First-person narrator Annemarie Wilcox (known to her family as Shug because of her mother`s devotion to Alice Walker`s The Color Purple) is articulate, perceptive and reluctant to embrace the changes occurring in her life. Everything seems suddenly much more difficult and intense for Annemarie than before seventh grade. Daddy, once the heartthrob of their small Georgia town, is frequently absent and Annemarie`s bright, beautiful mother drinks heavily to cope. Mark, the boy next door, is oblivious to the glow he has taken on in Annemarie`s eyes, while new best friend Elaine, from New York and the only Asian American girl in town, seems to want to be one of the queen bees. And her former enemy, classmate Jack, seems to have more dimensions than Annemarie knew. Contradictions and complications in friendships, boys, teachers, family—all familiar territory for young teens and all explored with an authentic, appealing sure-handedness."

...Kirkus Reviews

"At first blush, Shug seems to be a typical contemporary novel about a middle school girl. But Han offers something more with her penetrating observation of Annemarie (Shug) as she becomes more aware of the people around her and of how they differ from her previous perceptions of them. Foremost on the 12-year-old's mind is her best friend since childhood, Mark, on whom she has developed a crush. Then it is her father, who breezes in from his business trips less and less frequently and stays for as little time as possible. Then it is her attractive mother, who reads Foucault and whose criticism of her fellow residents in their small North Carolina town starts to seem less like a matter of clear-eyed appraisal than of alcoholic bitterness. The bad boy whom Annemarie is forced to help with his schoolwork; her not-so-perfectly adjusted older sister; and even her popular new friend, the only Korean-American student in town, all receive reappraisal. Something has awakened in Annemarie, all right, and Han depicts the change with a delicacy and nuance that sets this first novel above the rest of the pack of similar books. This new author bears watching."

...School Library Journal

"Annemarie Wilcox is a twelve-year-old with a problem. It's hard to be twelve! Shug, as her family calls her, is just about to begin middle school and is sure her life is about to change for the worse. She is too tall, way too freckled, and has a gorgeous older sister. How much worse can life get? Well, if you're worried about losing your best friend to his guy friends and all your girl friends start acting funny, life can be very stressful. Shug certainly has her hands full as she tries to meet head on the transition from child to young woman. A wonderfully written, truly believable first person story, this novel belongs in every library that even thinks about serving twelve-year-old girls. What stands out about this adolescent transition story is that it is all about adolescent transition. There are no tragedies, no accidents, no ill siblings or dead friends, just Annemarie struggling to understand the changes that are going on around and within her. Jenny Han is well on her way to becoming the Judy Blume of the next generation."

...Children's Literature

"Annemarie is a Southern girl on the cusp of adolescence. She wants to be as sweet and as strong as the character in The Color Purple whose nickname, Shug, she goes by, but it's hard when everything is changing. Local boys suddenly seem like strangers, and some of her girlfriends have turned secretive. "Somehow the cream of our crop rose to the top, and it's clear we're not all friends anymore," she tells herself. At home, Shug's glamorous mother is never without a drink, her father is always away on business, and her older sister has time only for her boyfriend. Yet, much as Shug longs for her life to stay as it was, she comes to understand that changes can also bring unexpected joys--like her very first kiss! Han has created an engaging, big-hearted heroine who will resonate with fans of similarly themed tween lit, such as Lauren Myracle's Eleven. And while the author breaks no new ground with her debut noovel, the finely crafted prose and spot-on dialogue display an uncanny understanding of young teens and their exasperating, exhilarating ways."

...TimeOut New York Kids