Lovely Little Shelf

The Book: Someone Like You, by Sarah Dessen

The Story: Halley and Scarlett have been BFF for a long time.  Scarlett has always kind of been the “leader” and tends to be the one to pull Halley through the situations that they get into together.

Over the summer, while Halley is at camp, Scarlett starts dating a new guy.  Not long after, he is killed in a motorcycle accident.  Scarlett is totally devastated. Then she finds out that she is carrying his baby.  Uh oh.

Halley really has to step up and be there for Scarlett and help her pull it together.  She reads all the pregnancy books, goes to all the classes, she is all in.  She has to learn to set aside her other issues (parent issues, boyfriend issues, school stuff) and be totally there for Scarlett even when she has a hard time understanding what Scarlett is thinking.

What I Thought: I cannot resist a book about teenage friendship.  There is something about the friendships that you form when you are in high school that are so special and I think that Sarah Dessen really brought that out here.  I loved how Halley felt so weak but when it was her turn to step up to bat, she did it without even flinching.

I had only read one other book by Sarah Dessen before (Just Listen) and I thought that this one was so much better.  I thought that the characters were more than cut-outs and that they dealt with their issues in realistic ways.  I especially thought that the mother/daughter dynamics were played out perfectly.  Scarlett and her scatter-brained mom and Halley and her counselor mom were both really well done.  Teenage daughters and their moms always have this tricky dynamic and it wasn’t glossed over at all.

While I realize that the book was told from Halley’s point of view, I do wish that Scarlett had been fleshed out a little more.  I felt like it took me a long time to really understand who she was and where she was coming from.  That really is my only complaint.

I just want to say again how glad I am that there are honest books like this one being written now. Turns out this was out when I was in high school, but I had no idea.  I think by that point I had given up on YA books.  This is good stuff and I hope that high school English teachers everywhere have this on their shelves.

Conclusion: This is the best Sarah Dessen book that I’ve read so far.  It’s a quick, easy read but is not totally light a fluffy.  Check this one out.