ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS
BY: Stephanie Perkins
LEVEL: YA
PAGES: 372–  ( Paperback Edition) PUBLISHER: Penguin Young Readers Group

 SUMMARY: Anna can’t wait for her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a good job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she’s not too thrilled when her father unexpectedly ships her off to boarding school in Paris – until she meets Etienne St. Clair, the perfect boy. The only problem? He’s taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her crush back home. Will a year of romantic near-misses end in the French kiss Anna awaits?

MY REVIEW: I absolutely adored Anna and The French Kiss!  First I have to say that it’s very refreshing to read a book that takes place somewhere new.  I can’t tell you how many books I’ve read over the last year and a half, that take place in New York!  As much as I want to visit it, I needed a change of scenery as a reader and Paris did that for me!  Anna is a senior in high school and her dad decides to send her to boarding school in Paris.  Anna isn’t too pleased with the idea, because she is fine with the way things are in her hometown of Atlanta.  However, Anna settles in pretty quickly into her new life at SOAP (School of America in Paris), you must be American to attend.  Merideth is the first person Anna meets after arriving at SOAP and they quickly bond.  The next day she is introduced to Josh, Rashmi and of course St.Clair, all of whom are friends of Merideth.  Anna is attracted to St.Clair from the time she meets him.  Although, St. Clair has a serious girlfriend (Ellie), and Meredith also has a huge crush on him.  Anna struggles to speak french when she first starts SOAP, however St.Clair helps her whenever he can and he also helps her settle in as well.  I was attracted to St.Clair as well.  He has a British accent, he was born in America and raised in London.  Anyway, Anna and St.Clair quickly become good friends.  There’s also np denying their attraction for one another.  I particulary thought it was refreshing to see how their relationship developed from a friendship into a romance.  Anna wasn’t looking for love nor did she need someone to come into her life and and change her point of view on anything.  She was perfectly happy with how things were back home.  She had a crush on Toph, a guy she worked with at the movie theatre.  However, the more she is around St.Clair she can’t stop wishing that he would leave Ellie for her.  One thing I really liked about Anna and St.Clair’s relationship was how they could be themselves around the other and how they had this funny sense of humor between them.  It was enjoyable to read!  Stephanie is another great author that makes supporting characters have depth to them.  In my opinion they should add to a story.  There was some drama between Merideth and Anna over St.Clair, and there were times when Rashmi was giving Anna love advice.  Anna also had problems with her best friend Bridget betraying her in the story.  It was all very real and believeble, making the story more interesting to read.  I can’t tell you enough how I enjoyed the descriptions of Paris, from the food to the scenery it sometimes felt so real!  One of my favourite scenes was when Anna and Merideth were in a pastry shop.  The way Stephanie described the food had my mouth watering!  I also really liked a scene when Anna and St.Clair were on top of Notre Dame (that’s all I’m saying for now!).  Overall, I could not put this book down!  Stephanie’s writing flows very well, and she added a lot of depth to all the characters not just Anna.  Anna was very fun, likeable with a great sense of humor!

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Check out Lola and The Boy Next Door September 29th, 2011

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 What Happened To Goodbye
BY: Sarah Dessen
LEVEL: YA
PAGES: 416– PUBLISHER: Penguin Group ( USA) Incorporated

SUMMARY: Since her parents’ bitter divorce, McLean and her dad, a restaurant consultant, have been on the move-four towns in two years. Estranged from her mother and her mother’s new family, McLean has followed her dad in leaving the unhappy past behind. And each new place gives her a chance to try out a new persona: from cheerleader to drama diva. But now, for the first time, McLean discovers a desire to stay in one place and just be herself, whoever that is. Perhaps Dave, the guy next door, can help her find out.

MY REVIEW:  I LOVED this book!  Sarah Dessen has crafted yet another beautifully written book, with characters and a story that just draws you in from the first page.  McLean is in her last year of high school and for the past few years she’s lived with her dad.  Her parents are divorced and she could of chosen to stay with her mom and her new husband in their lovely house, with her new brother and sister, yet she chose to go on the road with her dad, moving from town to town while he fixes up restaurants.  McLean and her dad are never in one town for very long.  McLean decides she wants to be a new person in each town, by changing her name and certain things about how she gets involved at each school.  For example, she might join the yearbook committee at one school and be cheer captain at the next.  Anyway, when they move to Lakeview all of that sort of disolves and McLean decides to be herself.  This time around her dad will be fixing up a restaurant called Luna Blu.  I must say I loved the whole environment that Sarah created for this restaurant.  There were a lot of interesting personalities thrown into the mix here, such as Opal the manager who is clearly falling apart and doesn’t know what to do with Luna Blu anymore, and the rest of the staff?  Well I’ll just let you read the book!  Aside from the Luna Blu, McLean is starting a brand new school.  This is where she of course meets new friends and gets re-introduced to Dave who is also her neighbour and they meet briefly the first night at her new house.  You quickly learn that Dave is in with the “in-crowd”, at Jackson which also includes Heather and Riley.  Not that Dave is totally popular, but out of the two girls he hangs around, Heather seems to run the show, and doesn’t seem to want outsider Deb to be included.  McLean quickly picks up on this after being invited by Heather to sit at their table with Riley and Dave on her first day.  After Deb had introduced herself to McLean, Mclean then invites Deb to sit with them at their table.  This is one of the first moments in the book that truly lets you in on the type of person that Mclean is, and I was proud of Mclean for doing this.  It is something I know I would of done and would want someone to do for me.  Throughout the progression of the book, Mclean starts to settle into her new life at Lakeview pretty well.  She learns a lot about herself and reflects back on maybe why she don’t open up as much to the other people she met in those other towns, and why she never wanted to be herself. Mclean becomes really close with Dave in this process and he helps her to open up and she finds herself so comfortable telling him bits about her life such as her parent’s divorce that she was never really able to tell other people.  One of the things I really enjoyed about the book, was the town model, that Mclean works on with Dave, Heather, Riley and Deb, as well as a few other people at Luna Blu.  This was an interesting way to learn about all the different personalities in the book, and I really liked it how all Riley,Heather, Dave and even Deb joined the team.  Another thing, I want to mention is how I really like the way Sarah incorporates characters and the same towns and places from her previous books into her new ones as well.  In What Happened To Goodbye, Mclean finally decides to spend some much needed time with her mother and her new brother and sister at her mother’s and step dad’s new beach house in Colby.  There she meets Heidi and Thisbee.  Heidi who is a good friend of Mclean’s mother, stops by with some bathing suits for Mclean which she brought over from her store Clemintine’s.  I loved how Along For The Ride, was one of the books that also played a small part in What Happened To Goodbye.  It is also one of my favourite Sarah Dessen books.  Overall, getting back to my review of What Happened To Goodbye, I really enjoyed it!  It flowed very well, there was lots of detail about Mclean’s story; everything from her life with her dad, to her parent’s divorce and how she developed as a person in Lakeview.  Also, the supporting characters are never one dimensional in a Sarah Dessen book.  You get a peek inside the lives of the friends that she meets in Lakeview as well.  If you are looking for a wholesome love story and friendship between a girl and guy, Sarah Dessen always nails that.  Just learning about a person and trying to help them through something or help them become confident in who they are, can still be interesting to read.  In fact, that is a good foundation for a relationship and it helps you to decide whether or not you want to take it further.  If you are looking for some or all of these things then What Happened To Goodbye is for you!  I watched a review of What Happened To Goodbye on YouTube and a girl said that What Happened To Goodbye, is perfection in a nut-shell!  I couldn’t agree more!

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Where She Went
BY: Gayle Forman
LEVEL: YA
PAGES: 208 – PUBLISHER: Penguin Group ( USA) Incorporated

SUMMARY

It’s been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam’s life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard’s rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia’s home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future – and each other.

Told from Adam’s point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.

MY REVIEW

I ABSOLUTELY enjoyed Where She Went!  Since Mia decided that her choice was to stay, I couldn’t wait to figure out where her life would take her next.  Where She Went, takes place three years after the tragic accident with Mia’s family.  She has since moved to New York, has attended Julliard and is now living her dream as a famous Cellist.  Meanwhile, her former boyfriend Adam, is living in Los Angeles, with a new girlfriend, and his band Shooting Star, has since hit it big with their new album, Collateral Damage.  On the outside it looks as though they both have everything they’ve ever dreamed of.  Although, Adam is still trying to figure out why Mia basically dropped him without a word, after telling him that he meant everything to her, right before she left for Julliard.  All of this has basically left Adam feeling empty and searching for answers.  Where She Went, is told completely from Adam’s point of view which I thought was really interesting.  At the beginning of the book, Adam is in New York.  Little does he know that he is about to spend the whole night with Mia, and finally get the answers to all the questions he has desperately been searching for.  I really like the idea of rekindled romance and the idea of fate bringing you and that one person you’re supposed to be with, together again.  It didn’t really feel much like a young adult book when I was reading it.  Gayle is fantastic at adding a lot of depth to a story as well as the character’s in it, which can sometimes be a hard thing to find when looking for a really good YA book.  In my opinion, she has written the relationship between Adam and Mia very well.  I was so happy that fate brought them together again after what happened.  One of my favourite parts in the book, was when Mia was showing Adam around New York and all the places she loves to go exploring.  I really liked the idea of the bowling alley in the bus station, and the garden right in the middle of the city.  *SPOILERS!  I was so happy that Mia and Adam were able to work things out.  Mia truly feels as though Adam coming to see her play at Carnegie Hall that night, was her family’s way of saying that you still need to be with him.  I feel exactly the same way.  There are so many signs that he still cares for her.  Such as when they’re  back at Mia’s place.  She just showed Adam around, and then they end up on her back porch.  They just stare at each other as if remembering the faces they haven’t seen for years.  Then they start kissing, really kissing.  They never once lost that affection they had for each other.  After that, they really start to try and figure out how they can maybe have a life together again.  It’s those simple moments, that Gayle writes so brilliantly.  For anyone who wants to read a story about love, family, and loss, I recommend If I Stay and Where She Went!

Gayle Forman talks about Where She Went

Take a tour of New York with Gayle as she talks about Where She Went

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If I Stay
BY: Gayle Forman
LEVEL: YA
PAGES: 272 – PUBLISHER: Speak; Reprint Edition (April 6th, 2010)

SUMMARY

 A sophisticated, layered, and heartachingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make, and the ultimate choice one teenage girl commands, this emotionally arresting novel is sure to captivate readers.In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces – to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make. Heart-wrenchingly beautiful, Mia’s story will stay with you for a long, long time.

MY REVIEW

I absolutely LOVED If I Stay!  After hearing so many great things about it, I just had to see for myself.  I have to say, I did find it to be a pretty easy read.  Although, there was still a lot of depth within the story itself as well as the main character Mia.  Mia has just lost her family in a tragic car accident, (that isn’t a spoiler).  The whole time Mia is in the hospital in a coma, she is reflecting back on her life and she can see what’s happening around her in the hospital.  They say that sometimes when you’re in the hospital you have an out of body experience, well that’s basically what happened in If I Stay.  The story flips back and forth to how her life was before the accident, and how it has changed since the accident with her being in the hospital and actually being able to look down on her body lying on the hospital bed, and being able to hear everything that’s being said.  I enjoyed learning about Mia’s life before the accident.  Her relationship with her parents, her younger brother Teddy, and especially her boyfriend Adam.  Also, how she became a cellist, how her parents met, were all details that made the story interesting.  I’m glad that Gayle chose not to have Mia black out at any point in the story, after the accident.  I personally, liked the idea of Mia being able to see everything that was happening in the hospital and get her thoughts on it, as well as being able to feel her emotions.  For anyone who doesn’t typically pick up a book about any kind of tragedy, If I Stay might be the book for you.  The emotions throughout were obviously really sad at times, and happier at others(when she was reflecting on her memories with her family), although the majority of the book wasn’t just this depressing story about a girl who loses her family in a tragic car accident.  It is, or was so much more than that.  Mia was a character I easily felt pulled to, mainly because of what happened.  But because of the love that she had for her family and those memories that they shared together.  As well as ones she shared with her best friend , boyfriend Adam and her grandparents.  It is definately a book not to be missed!

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Stay Tuned For My Review Of Where She Went, The Sequel To If I Stay

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