Reviewed by Cana Rensberger for TeensReadToo.com

Remember your first serious relationship? The breathless excitement, nervousness, and giddiness that comes when you realize that he likes you? Caitlyn can't believe how lucky she is.

She first meets Tyler at an amusement park, in the splash pool. The attraction is immediate and mutual, and the timing couldn't be better. Her best friend, Ashley, is totally engrossed in Brandon, her boyfriend of eight months. And at home, she feels less than invisible. The latest insult is moving to the basement so her room can be turned into a nursery. Her mother and stepfather are finally going to have their perfect baby, a baby they've been trying for for years. It seems they've forgotten that Caitlyn even exists.

At first, Caitlyn convinces herself that she's not changing. She's doing what every other girl does who wants to be with her boyfriend. If she really loves him, she should try to please him, right? She ignores the inner voices that wonder why she's not talking to Ashley about her relationship with Tyler. She lets Tyler talk her into doing things that she would never have considered before. When she realizes that she can't paint a smiling self-portrait she begins to look beyond the euphoria of new love and finds support and forgiveness from her family and friends.

Teen feelings of being alive and loved, truly loved, for the first time, mixed with the uncertainty, stubbornness, and incredibly strong desire to please, are vividly portrayed in this debut novel. Ms. Peters does a beautiful job of immersing the reader in the heady feeling of young love. PAINTING CAITLYN was a very enjoyable read. ( )

It’s an interesting story line that relates to things that your everyday teenager goes through. It relates to teen problems, like sex and abusive boyfriends, it kept me reading, wondering if Caitlyn would realize the true jerk that Tyler is and if she would be able to leave him. AHS/HS

This book about domestic abuse is not only informative about how subtly things can happen, but has a great plot. Caitlyn, a fourteen year old who’s never had a real boyfriend, meets the perfect guy – or so she thinks. After a few months together she gets doubts about him in the way he “accidentally” hurts her, but is that enough to make her leave her first love? (4/4 stars
Brittany

Caitlyn's painting is about a girl of the age of 14, named Caitlyn, who thinks her life is just going down hill because of her best friend, Ashley, is spending morst of her time with her new boyfriend, Brandon. One night Caitlyn goes to hang out with Ashley and Brandon, and Brandon has brought his best friend, Tyler, who's 17 and single, even if it seems a little old for a 14 year old. While they are at the restaurant, Tyler and Caitlyn start talking and later in the week they start dating. Everything starts to go uphill for Caitlyn, except her mother is pregnant with a "mutant-kid" , Caitlyn starts getting bad grades in school, and she starts skipping school to hang out with her boyfriend, Tyler, who starts getting real controlling. Tyler has a major jealousy issue, and has a fit if he sees 'his' girl talking with her friend, Connor, from art class. One day Caitlyn shows Tyler her art, including some drawings of guys. She leaves the room for a split second, and when she returns Tyler has ripped up her art work, starts a fight with her, and slaps her across the face. When Tyler apologizes, Caitlyn takes him back, but it happens over and over again. The last fight happens at a party in front of everybody, and that's when the couple is officially "done with'. Caitlyn and her mom start going to counseling,and Caitlyn opens up to her Mom. When Caitlyn's mom has her baby, Tyler calls to congratulate her. Will Caitlyn have the sense to stay away from Tyler? How does the story end? Dominique ( )

(Michele, Fall 2009)