Reader Girls Blog

Our choice this week is Gayle Forman's Where She Went ( If I Stay , Number 2). Forman's If I Stay was a beautifully written and heartfelt novel and we're glad this story will continue-from Adam's point-of-view! And the cover is gorgeous. 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.  ...

Reading level: Young Adult Hardcover : 208 pages Publisher: Simon Pulse (October 5, 2010) Summary: Strasnick’s slim second offering packs a lot into its short chapters: divorce, broken friendships, crushes, the lines between love and sex and more. Characterization, scenes, dialogue and setting are seamlessly distilled into so few sharp, image-rich phrases that the novel reads almost as if it were written in verse. Less is definitely more here, and readers are plunged into Alex’s physical and emotional world within three to four words. Although the plot moves swiftly, the author’s ability to capture Alex’s inner world in so few words give the novel depth and balance. Complex and thought-provoking. My review: It takes a certain degree of skill to write a novel of short length while retaining its power, symbolism and relaying its messages succintly. Strasnick's second book achieves this. Alex (Al) is witnessing her mother's inability to handle the breaking down of her...