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Summer of Sarah Dessen : Just Listen

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“Silence is so freaking loud.” 

– Sarah Dessen, Just Listen

                   

Synopsis: Last year, Annabel was “the girl who has everything”—at least that’s the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf’s Department Store.This year, she’s the girl who has nothing: no best friend because mean-but-exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. Until she meets Owen Armstrong. Tall, dark, and music-obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad boy with a commitment to truth-telling. With Owen’s help,maybe Annabel can face what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends.

Note: This week Kat is posting a re-post of Just Listen for Summer of Sarah Dessen

So, this is the first Sarah Dessen novel I’ve read in a few years and I was nervous. I’ve always raved about her writing and I wondered if her writing was nearly as good as I remember. Would I still enjoy it?  The answer is yes.

Just Listen follows the story of Annabel Greene, a girl who is trying to keep up the facade of a perfect life when in reality her friendships and family relationships are crumbling around her. When she starts to sit next to Owen Armstrong at lunch, that all slowly changes.


 Just Listen is a beautifully crafted novel and  I adore it on so many levels. This is a book not only about a girl and her coming-of-age story, but also one about ideas. Powerful and brilliant ideas.

 

What Dessen does so well is she allows her characters to tell their own stories. They characters know (or at least think they know) themselves so well that the storytelling feels completely organic.

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Summer of Sarah Dessen : The Truth About Forever

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A long hot summer. That’s what Macy has to look forward to while her boyfriend, Jason, is away at Brain Camp. Days will be spent at a boring job in the library, evenings will be filled with vocabulary drills for the SATs, and spare time will be passed with her mother, the two of them sharing a silent grief at the traumatic loss of Macy’s father.
But sometimes unexpected things can happen. . . As Macy ventures out of her shell, she begins to wonder, Is it really better to be safe than sorry

Macy Queen’s boyfriend  is the smart and driven Jason Talbot. Macy Queen’s sister had the most beautiful wedding at the Lakeview Inn. Macy Queen’s mother is the businesswoman behind the Wildflower Ridge subdivision.

But what Macy Queen is most know for is watching her father die.

There on the sidewalk as Macy’s father slips away so does life as she knew it . Now nothing but perfection, studying and order will do for her and her now smaller family. This summer is shaping up to be just that; until the chaos that is Wish Catering barrels into her life. Crab cakes, meatballs, a game of Truth and all.

Wish Catering is–in one word–  chaos. Run by the frazzled and very pregnant owner Delia; along with boy-crazy Kristy, monotone Monica, Bert and the mysteriously artistic Wes.

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Book Review : Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

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  • Release Date : August 7th 2012
  • Genre: Fantasy
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury
  • Pages: 416

Synopsis: After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

I was very excited to read Throne of Glass after learning the story originally gained a large following as Queen of Glass on fictionpress.com. I think it’s great when an author has a built-in fandom e.g. Amanda Hocking, Marissa Meyer and Cassandra Clare.  How could you go wrong with a  story and character that enthralled many before it had an official publication?

The first few pages of the novel throws readers into the salt mine prison of Endovier in the magic stripped land of Ardalan. Here Celaena Sardothien a.k.a Ardalan’s Assassin, the country’s most dangerous assassin, is being released into the custody of the crown prince to fight for her freedom in a competition to win the title of the King’s assassin.

The novel starts off strong, but overall the story feels watered down. It seemed like there was supposed to be this fierce competition but it was just really boring. I mean there was very little action involved  and  the other competitors where throwaway characters.

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When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle

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“What if the greatest love story ever told was the wrong one?” 

― Rebecca Serle, When You Were Mine

  • Release Date: May 1st  2012
  • Genre: Contemporary
  • Pages: 334
  • Publisher: Simon Pulse


Synopsis: What’s in a name, Shakespeare? I’ll tell you: Everything.
Rosaline knows that she and Rob are destined to be together. Rose has been waiting for years for Rob to kiss her—and when he finally does, it’s perfect. But then Juliet moves back to town. Juliet, who used to be Rose’s best friend. Juliet, who now inexplicably hates her. Juliet, who is gorgeous, vindictive, and a little bit crazy… and who has set her sights on Rob. He doesn’t even stand a chance.

So, I love the concept of this novel. A modern re-telling of Romeo and Juliet, but from the perspective of Rosaline. I remember studying Romeo and Juliet in high school and when our teacher was talking about Rosaline I remember thinking, wait what ? There was a girl Romeo liked before Juliet ? Roalisne is an unseen  character in the play so Serle had a lot to play with in developing her.

The character of Rosaline Caplet in this book was a blurry character to me, she didn’t seem to have any shape. She just existed, there was nothing special about her and I couldn’t get a feel for her personality. She does gain some definition through the book with her relationship with the character Len, but I just could not connect with her.

There seems to be two schools of reviewers who have read this; those who loved Rose’s  friends and others who don’t. I found Charlie and Olivia to be annoying girls obsessed with boys and popularity. They are also kind of the mean girls I didn’t understand why they were friends with Rose, who seems nothing like them. It seems like in real life they would have drifted apart.

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Summer of Sarah Dessen : Keeping The Moon

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“You should never be surprised when someone treats you with respect, you should expect it.” 

― Sarah Dessen, Keeping the Moon

  • Release Date : September 1999
  • Publisher : Viking/Penguin
  • Genre : Contemporary
  • Pages : 240
  • School Library Edition : 228

Synopsis: Colie expects the worst when she’s sent to spend the summer with her eccentric aunt Mira while her mother, queen of the television infomercial, tours Europe. Always an outcast — first for being fat and then for being “easy” — Colie has no friends at home and doesn’t expect to find any in Colby, North Carolina. But then she lands a job at the Last Chance Cafe and meets fellow waitresses Morgan and Isabel, best friends with a loving yet volatile relationship. Wacky yet wise, Morgan and Isabel help Colie see herself in a new way and realize the potential that has been there all along.

Keeping The Moon is a short read that manages to hold its own and pull a at the heart strings. This was the first Sarah Dessen novel  I’d ever read almost ten years ago *cringe* when I was 14-years-old. I remember that as soon as I finished it I sat there for a minute and then started to read it again.

Now 45 pounds lighter, Colie Sparks is no longer the “fat” girl in school.While she could easily shed the pounds, losing her low self-esteem and self consciousnesses is going to take a summer of change.

With bullying a hot topic nowadays this novel is still relevant today. Fifteen year old Colie Sparks has been lled fat, she has been made fun of  and is even called a slut. She is so down in her self that she begins to expect these things even whens she spends the summer in a town where no one knows her.

In the beach town of Colby, NC Colie befriends  a pair of  20 something best friends; Morgan who is a sweet optimist and Isabel, the straight forward brash beauty.As we are introduced to the town of Colby and its residents you really get the feel that you are meeting and getting to know these people for the first time

I did find this novel off plotting wise. It seems as if two plots; the friendship between Colie’s and her aunt’s young border, Norman, and her friendships with Isabel and Morgan could have been worked together. Instead it felt like they were separated into different sections, as if they weren’t apart of the same story.

This isn’t your average light summer at the beach novel. This novel begins real turn in Dessen’s writing. Plot and message began to flow more evenly in her writing after this. This is one of Dessen’s first books about summer and I think she really finds her place there.

Connections

I didn’t pick up any connections to her previous three novels.

 

What is the Summer of Sarah Dessen ?

Summer Of Sarah Dessen : Dreamland

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  • Release Date : September 1 2000
  • Publisher : Viking Children’s/Penguin
  • Genre : Contemporary
  • Pages : 256

Synopsis: Ever since she started going out with Rogerson Biscoe, Caitlin seems to have fallen into a semiconscious dreamland where nothing is quite real. Rogerson is different from anyone Caitlin has ever known. He’s magnetic. He’s compelling. He’s dangerous. Being with him makes Caitlin forget about everything else-her missing sister, her withdrawn mother, her lackluster life. But what happens when being with Rogerson becomes a larger problem than being without him.

Cassandra “Cass” O’Koren was the perfect high school student; she was homecoming queen, a star soccer player and Yale bound in the fall. That is until she decides to runawway to New York City with her boyfriend; leaving her friends and family behind.

Dreamland isn’t Cass’ story though; It is the story of her younger sister Caitlin.

After Cass’s hasty departure, her little sister Caitlin is  left to pick up the pieces. Her attempts at finding life after Cass come tumbling down the night she meet Rogerson Biscoe. He’s a dark brooding drug-dealer whose life is constantly in motion and Caitlin wants nothing more than to be in motion with him. Caitlin entwines her life in his moving  farther away from the person everyone wants her to be.

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