I NEED TO TALK ABOUT "THE HIRED GIRL" BY LAURA AMY SCHLITZ. This was SUCH a cute book and so well done, it reminded me why I loved reading books when I was younger written in diary form. It follows a girl, Joan, who runs away from home at 14 and gets taken in by a Jewish family as one of their hired girls. She knows nothing about Judaism and she begins to learn, while also exploring her own religious beliefs (although religion is a theme in the novel it's not in a trying to convince you who is right kind of way). I felt like I was reading the thoughts of a 14 year old girl and it made me laugh and cry and swoon. CANNOT RECOMMEND ENOUGH. I didn't see the ending coming at all, and while it's not a thriller or anything like that, the story kept me so engaged because I really felt like I was reading about someones life. 10/10 five stars someone read this so I can talk to them about it.