Putting Makeup on Dead People

Putting Makeup on Dead People by Jen Violi follows Donna who has found what she wants to do with her life, work in a funeral home as a mortician.  After the death of her father Donna has been floating through life.  While visiting a funeral home after the death of a classmate Donna has a conversation with one of the owners of the funeral home and decides that working in the mortuary business is her calling.  The book follows Donna as she completes her senior year in high school and starts college.  Donna grows up and finds herself along the way. 

This is a nice contemporary coming of age novel with an interesting premise.  I enjoyed reading about Donna's life and the mortuary industry.  It's nice reading a book about a teenager who is moving into adulthood and while experiencing bumps along the way, she ultimately knows what they want and work towards it.  This isn't a sweet and cute story but rather a coming of age novel about a girl moving through life after the death of her father.

Appropriateness:  There is quite a bit of adult content in this book.  Donna fumbles through a couple relationships which become sexual (although there are no erotic descriptions), there is drinking and drunkenness.  Donna is an older teen and behaves like one.  I would recommend this book to older teenagers 15+

ARC received from netgalley.  Publication date is 5/24/11