That Summer by Sarah Dessen

For fifteen-year-old Haven, one ordinary summer turns into an epic journey as the days go by. It all starts with her father's remarriage to the "Weather Pet": Haven's mother's nickname for the local weather lady. Then Haven's sister Ashley's old boyfriend turns up at a pasta restaurant one day and at almost every other one of Haven's haunts, sparking her memory of the past. The biggest part of all is that Haven's sister is getting married to a guy who seems to hardly suit her and everything begins to revolve around Ashley.  On top of everything, Haven's best friend Casey thinks she's met her soul mate and Haven herself is six feet tall and still growing. It's all way too much this summer for Haven, and she is pushed over the edge to breaking point very quickly.

I know that you might think my summary for That Summer was a little choppy, but if you thought that, you must have thought the same thing about the book itself. Even though That Summer is Sarah Dessen's first novel, I have obviously read other books of hers before. I believe I've said this in the past, but I find that Sarah Dessen's novels are always slow and too descriptive for the first few chapters and turn out to be amazing later on. Naturally, I expected the same from this book, and got even less. That Summer was one of the slowest books I have ever read and I was greatly disappointed in it.

Normally in a book the characters are somewhat vivid and easy to relate to, the problems of the plot are all solved by the end, and most occurrences in the book seem to foreshadow the conclusion or support other happenings. In That Summer, the characters actually weren't so vivid. I found when Haven was narrating the story from her point of view, it was told rather drone-like. The characters were just there. The events just happened in a way that it didn't seem there should be a necessary order for them. When Haven actually reached "breaking point" in the story, it was surprising to me that she actually had feelings; the characters were so mediocre.

I know that Sarah Dessen is a terrific author otherwise, so if this is the first book you've read by her, don't be turned off. But all in all, this book disappointed me. I really would not recommend it to anybody. My final decision for That Sumer may shock you, or you may agree with me. Please comment on this post , or vote on the book below.

To Read  Not to Read

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

Ruby and her mother have been constantly moving around together, ever since her parents got divorced and her sister left for college. Although it may seem strange, it's normal for Ruby to be left alone for weeks at a time by her mother. But when Ruby's mother leaves for the final time and does not return, she has to illegally fend for herself in the small yellow house she loves so much without heat or running water.

When the landlords discover the absence of Ruby's mother, she is sent to her sister Cora's mansion to stay until she can legally and comfortably be on her own. Ruby hasn't seen her ten-year-older sister for a decade, but after settling in, Ruby and her sister learn that they are still as close as they were before.

In the months that Ruby stays with her sister and brother-in-law, she is befriended by Nate, the rich boy next door, tutored by a twelve-year-old genius in calculus, and is taught how to accept help when she needs it and the true meaning of family.

With a stunning plot, well-crafted world readers will lose themselves in, and yet another batch of vivid, believable characters, Sarah Dessen presents to teen readers one more book you will be incapable of putting down.

What exactly is so good about Lock and Key? Despite the reference to drugs in the novel, the story is just so unpredictable you simply have to find out what happens next in the story. It's impressing how Sarah Dessen could gracefully switch the mood of the novel from serious and a bit depressed to warm and humorous.

If you have read any other of Sarah Dessen's novels and enjoyed them, then I guess you already know what to expect from her eighth book. If you haven't read any of her novels, then pick this one up and brace yourself for your new favorite author!

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Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Publisher: Speak
Copyright: 2009

Auden expects a long, hot, boring two months, when she chooses to spend her summer with the stepmother she isn't too fond of, and her dad's selfish attributes. Not to mention a constantly crying half - sister that's just been born.
But this particular summer, Auden gets way more than she expects to. She gets a job bookkeeping at her stepmother Heidi's store, meets new friends, and is helped to catch up on the childhood she never had.

Ever since Auden's parents divorced when she was little, she never slept at night from having to listen to their fighting. When Auden lived with her no-fun, nagging mother nearly all her life, she was expected to be the little adult, never doing anything fun, never having many friends, and never doing anything as basic in her childhood such as learning to ride a bike.

But all that changes when she meets Eli in the small town her father, stepmother and half-sister calls home. Eli is a former BMX star that quit doing what he loved when he and his best friend Abe were in a car accident and he was the only one of the two that survived. When Auden and Eli become friends, they change and teach each other what they both need to learn. Eli to come out of his grief and trauma; Auden to come out of her shell and experience some simple things included in a childhood, much less learning to live a proper social and academic life. Overall, they both learn the value of taking risks and living life.


I loved Along for the Ride, Sarah Dessen's latest novel published in 2009. From the beginning, I found the characters and storyline attractive, despite the sluggishness in the plot during the first few chapters. Sarah Dessen put everything into this novel that I expect from a good book: humor, vividity, attractiveness, and most importantly, an interesting and gripping, dramatic plot.

I have only read a few of Sarah Dessen's books, but this one inspired me to embark on my 'quest' to read all of her novels, if people who have already read this book know what I mean. I think a lot of other teenagers who read this book will be able to relate to many of the themes and parts in the story of this masterpiece. Anybody who is looking for a good book to read, I strongly recommend it; it will be one of my favorites for years.

Another reason to read Along For the Ride was that it was also clean. I have read a few books before that had mature content, etc. in them that made me question whether or not I should continue on to the next chapter. Readers will find Along for the Ride a satisfying, appropriate, recommendable adventure.

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This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

Publisher: Speak
Copyright: 2004

Remy and her best-seller mother Barbara Starr have only about one thing in common: their many relationships. After her father died shortly after her birth, Remy grew up knowing more than five different stepfathers. Remy herself has not been able to keep a boyfriend; she's had over ten. But the summer her mother gets remarried (again!) and she meets Dexter, her perspective on what love really is changes.

Dexter is everything Remy doesn't look for in a guy: messy, disorganized, hyper and worst of all: a musician like her one hit wonder father who wrote the famous song This Lullaby for her on the day of her birth.
The summer before Remy and her friends Jesse, Chloe and Lissa part to go to different colleges in the fall, Remy learns a very important lesson: what love is and how it makes a difference in people's lives. It's the way Remy learns this lesson, though. She learns it by once more bringing her current relationship with Dexter to a screeching stop by hurting him, and getting taught courage by her mother who's sixth husband has an affair with someone else and leaves her.

Having read three books by Sarah Dessen now, I've noticed that it usually takes a few chapters to really start to like the novel, but what I liked about This Lullaby was how it intrigued me from the start. The story opened with some humor and emotion from Remy's point of view, and then quickly introduced the main plot.
Sarah Dessen had a humorous, intriguing beginning, a strong and fast-moving plot for the middle, and a suspenseful, eventful and unexpected ending.
Despite the well thought out plot for This Lullaby, what I did not appreciate was the mature content that happened to play a big part in the story. It gave This Lullaby a few good twists and turns, but did not make the plot seem very attractive. Due to that one attribute in the novel, I would not recommend this book for young teenagers.

Overall, This Lullaby was what I would call a good book. I wouldn't recommend it to all teen readers, but it is definitely To Read.

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The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

Publisher: Speak Books
Copyright: 2008

Macy's summer is based on a boring library job and studying for the SAT's. For the past year and a half, Macy's family has been grieving the loss of their father and husband, who passed away right before Macy's eyes.

Running was Macy's passion. Every Saturday morning, Macy and her father would go for a run, and that's where it all ended. Macy's father collapsed from a heart attack right in front of her.

Now Macy, her sister Caroline, and her mother Deborah, continue to grieve. Deborah and Macy's lives are organized and quiet. Caroline is the only one able to resume her life and help her family do so, too.

But when Macy accepts a job offer at Wish Catering, along with her job at the info desk, she makes five new friends: Delia, Kristy, Bert, Monica and Wes, and her life begins to return to what it was.
Macy's mother is scared of a real life without her husband, hides behind her work, and prevents Macy from having one, too, by later banning her from her catering job and seeing her friends. Together, Macy and her sister must support their mother in fixing up the old beach house, letting Macy move on, and finally grieving.

Will Macy's forever be returning to her old, boring boyfriend and mother; her calm, quiet life, or be a regular life with friends and jobs and fun? Has Macy changed for the better, or worse?


Getting into the first few chapters of The Truth About Forever, I expected that I'd enjoy the novel as much as any other of my favorite books. Sarah Dessen creates such vivid characters that if anybody told me this was a true story, I could have easily believed it. Sarah Dessen narrates her story from Macy's point of view in such a way that the reader will become the character, experiencing the same emotions and thoughts as Macy herself.

Due to the reality in the plot, the deepness in the story, and the vividity of the characters and their opinions and how they tie in to what the character is experiencing in the story, the novel proves the amount of thought and work Dessen put in to her sixth novel.

Delia, the owner of Wish Catering where Macy works, always does her jobs in a disorganized fashion, so that the reader believes her to be a very disordered person. But Delia herself justifies her unmethodical way in the dialogue of the book, by explaining to Macy: "If everything was always smooth and perfect, you'd get too used to that, you know? You have a little bit of disorganization now and then. Otherwise you'll never really enjoy it when things go right." (94)
And Macy keeps working at her library job, with the other two girls who hate her, Bethany and Amanda. The reader wonders again when or if the heroine will quit her job, despite how much Jason, her boyfriend wants her to do well in it for him, and how much her mother believes she should complete the summer job for her resume. But as Macy is changed by her new friends at Wish, the job is no longer the least bit good enough for her.
"In so many ways, I was realizing the info desk was a lot like my life had been before Wish and Kristy and Wes. Something to be endured, never enjoyed" (198)
Aside from the characters, Dessen puts out a very real and possible story. The grounding, boring summer job, breaking up with Jason, and meeting Wes, are all things that would happen to the average teenage girl, "smushed", into one summer, all happening to one person. The Truth About Forever presents several situations where the reader will debate over which character has the right opinion, or who in the book is most agreeable with. The Truth About Forever is truly an amazing and remarkable novel.

To Read   Not to Read