CERTAIN GIRLS. Jennifer Weiner. Atria. 386 pages. $26.95.
As the author of a smash debut novel, Candace ''Cannie'' Shapiro Krushelevansky doesn't revel in her success. She writes teen science fiction under a pseudonym, dodges media attention, refuses to update her website and resists pleas to write another novel.
Thank goodness Cannie isn't modeled too closely on her creator, Jennifer Weiner, whose warm, witty new novel returns to the characters that established her as a master of smart-girl chick lit seven years ago and who, it should be noted, regularly posts on her blog.
Certain Girls, Weiner's sixth book, picks up 12 years after Good in Bed ended, with Cannie happy in her marriage to good guy Peter and peacefully entrenched in motherhood to a soon-to-be teenager.
Still plump at 42 but seven pounds lighter than she was on her wedding day, Cannie organizes her life around her husband and daughter, whose premature birth left her with hearing loss. She is room mother, chauffeur and volunteer, a helicopter parent whose current priority is planning Joy's bat mitzvah.
Cannie's peaceful life gets complicated when Joy starts her teenage rebellion early after reading her mother's angry, racy novel and Peter, who is Joy's stepfather, announces he wants a baby, a request complicated by the need for a surrogate.
Depending on your viewpoint, Cannie is either a well-meaning parent trying to corral a wayward tween or an overbearing mother trying to suffocate her perfectly normal daughter. Decide for yourself: The chapters are alternately narrated by Cannie and Joy, so we get both perspectives. The device could have been annoying but ends up serving the story well, especially because Weiner's hilarious, honest tone comes through in both characters, allowing us to agree with Cannie's parenting decisions while cringing on Joy's behalf.
Talking about her upcoming bat mitzvah with a friend, Joy recalls her mother's reaction to the idea of a theme: ''The one time I'd asked my mother about it, she'd raised her eyebrows and said in a very snotty and unhelpful tone, Um, God?'' Cannie's mom has her own wisdom to share: ''This is motherhood for you. Going through life with your heart outside your body.'' Weiner makes you feel the vulnerability in every mother-daughter exchange.
The actual events in the novel provide the only reason for complaint; the occasionally shaky plot can distract from Weiner's strengths. Joy's misbehavior finally escalates to levels that strain credulity, and Weiner throws an emotional curveball late in the game that feels a little too manipulative.
But even with those missteps, Certain Girls is sure to please readers who want a well-written story that makes them laugh, possibly snort and probably cry. After five books, Weiner's voice remains fresh, funny and real, full of the promise that she has a lot more still to say.
Hannah Sampson is a Miami Herald staff writer.
