Freshman Presley Moran, named by her young Aunt Betsi after the King, is at the family reunion and thinking about high school, where she will be entering not only a much bigger building, but her heartthrob senior cousin Barry's territory. Also, Betsi moves in temporarily with Presley's family while she finds a job, a place to stay and a way to re-adjust to life outside a rehabilitation clinic. Presley has no problem with her aunt staying in the house, though; she has always had a close relationship with the woman who is too young, too laid back and too much like a friend to be called aunt."

However, Presley's idol starts to slowly crumble. Catching fire to the house with a candle, little things begin to tick away at Presley, although the house was undamaged except for some pride and some scorch marks. No matter what's happening at home, Presley must enter high school and she does so with Barry, her best friend Hannah, and Barry's best friend Jack, who is more of a pest than anything. One night at a sleepover birthday party, Presley overhears a private conversation of Betsi's with a lover, whose identity the aunt will not share; in fact, all Betsi will divulge is that she does not think the lover is long- term. She even breaks up with him and moves on to another. Barry, meanwhile, is starting to lose his academic/sports shine, and when a hooded man who turns out to be Barry shows up out front on Halloween, arguing with Betsi, Presley doesn't know what to think.

When a tragic event occurs that affects all of their lives, Presley, with the help of her friends, begins to move on emotionally. Betsi, however, doesn't do so well, and takes a turn for the worse.

THE GIRL I WANTED TO BE is an honest view into the life of a teenager as she realizes that all idols fall and that even adults can't handle it all; this is exactly the way a girl would see her family, her friends, her life. The characters are so real that I had a hard time realizing that they were fictional, and the plot was well-planned, if a tad predictable. By the end of the book, I wanted to watch Presley go all through high school, but as it is, I'm glad I got to meet her for just that year in this symbolic and soulful book.