Summary:
Macy's perfect boyfriend leaves for brain camp for the summer, and before long she realizes he has taken the veil of her own perfect life with him. After a particularly harsh email, Macy decides she is ready for a change, and takes on a job at Wish catering in addition to her library duties. Delia (the mother figure), Wes (the sa-woon worthy love interest, an artist and former bad boy), Bert (the younger brother, worried more about the end of the earth than today), Kristy (the colorful friend who's scars are covered by her flamboyant personality), and Monica (AKA monotone, the one word answer queen) open up a new world to Macy. A world where she is not the girlfriend of the perfect boy, not the girl who's Dad died, not the book worm, she is simply Macy. Through a game of truth with Wes, Macy realizes truths about herself she had never known, and begins to come to terms with her father's death. As her sister fixes up the beach house, Macy begins to fix her own life, and realizes the truth about forever- it changes. Macy grows as her relationship with Wes begins, and her relationship with her mother has the chance to start over.
My Thoughts:
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found myself constantly comparing characters and story lines from the novel to times and people I remember from my teen years. Dessen does a wonderful job with realistic teen literature, she speaks with a voice that teen girls everywhere can relate with. Although 400 pages, I found the book to be a quick and easy read that kept my attention from beginning to end.
Their Thoughts:
Excerpt from Ilene Cooper's Booklist Review:
"As is often the case with Dessen, the novel is a mixed bag. Much of it is wonderful. At its purest, the writing reaches directly into the hearts of teenage girls: Macy's games of "truth" with Wes are unerringly conceived, sharply focused on both characters and issues. Yet a subplot about Macy's job at the library features cardboard characters and unbelievable situations. This seesawing between spot-on observations and superfluous scenes slows the pace and makes readers wait too long for the book's best moments."
Excerpt from Fuchsia Yamashiro's (a teen) Amazon.com review:
"When reading this book I really got hooked onto it and wanted to read on and on to see what shall happen next. I enjoy these kinds of books about teenage girls and their lives and how they deal with problems. This book was no exception because I liked the way each character's lives were pieced together in the story."
(I found it interesting that this book was a teen top choice, state award winner many times over, and a highly rated Amazon book, yet adult reviewers continuously found it trite and predictable. The thing is, are the teenage years not that way? We have all been there, we know what happens and will happen, and yet as adults we often discount teen lit for being the same old thing. Seems to me Dessen has the right idea, give the teens what they want. The adults aren't her audience anyway.)
My Ideas:
In my opinion, this would be a great book to booktalk with teens. Dessen hits all the points a teen girl looks for in a book- relationships, parental troubles, inner struggles, and that one crazy friend who uses colorful language. This could be booktalked along with a selection appealing to boys such as Sharp Teeth.
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