Natasha Friend's "For Keeps"

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Natasha Friend is the author of the YA novels Perfect, Bounce, Lush, and the newly released For Keeps.

Here she shares some ideas for casting a big screen adaptation of For Keeps:

The storyline:

For sixteen years, Josie Gardner and her mom, Kate, have been a team. It’s been the Gardner Girls against the world, and that’s how Josie likes it. Until one day, in the pet food aisle of Shop-Co, they run into the parents of Paul Tucci, Kate’s high school boyfriend—the father Josie has never met. If Mr. and Mrs. Tucci are back in town, it’s only a matter of time until Paul shows up. Suddenly Josie’s mature, capable mother regresses to the heartbroken teenager she was when Paul moved away. Meanwhile, Josie’s on the verge of having her first real boyfriend, while her free-lovin’ best friend, Liv, begins yet another no-strings-attached fling. When Josie learns some surprising truths about Paul Tucci, she finds herself questioning what she’s always believed about her parents—and about herself. In For Keeps, Natasha Friend tells a fresh, funny, smart story about what happens when a girl gets the guy she always wanted and the dad she never knew she needed.

The cast:

Josie Gardner: Ellen Page (cast her quick; she won't be able to pull off 16 much longer....)

Kate Gardner: Julie Bowen (riding the wave of her hot/quirky Modern Family momness)

Liv: Mia Wasikowska (aka Alice in Wonderland, who was downright brilliant in the HBO series In Treatment)

Pops and Dodd, Liv’s two dads: Colin Farrell and Neil Patrick Harris (oddly perfect together)

Matt Rigby, Josie’s boyfriend: Zach Gilford (of Friday Night Lights fame)

Paul Tucci: Kyle Shandler (aka Coach Eric Taylor)

Mrs. Tucci: Meryl Streep (if I may be so bold ...)

Mr. Tucci/Big Nick: Alec Baldwin (say no more)

Learn more about the book and author at Natasha Friend's official Facebook page and website.

--Marshal Zeringue