by Simone Elkeles
ages: 15+
First sentence (ARC): “Everyone knows I’m perfect.”
Review copy sent to me by the publisher.
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There are times — as Shannon Hale has very ably pointed out — where you react strongly to the book. It then becomes nearly impossible to review the book, because whatever the book is — in this case, complex, engaging and as Liz B pointed out, hot — you can’t get past your gut reaction to this.

It’s not often, but once in a while I read a book that hits too close to home. And — don’t ask me why, since it’s not like I ever dated a Mexican gang member — this one did. Especially the ending: a happy ending, from High School love? Really?! High school love doesn’t have happy endings, or at the very least, happy endings from high school love really drive me bonkers. Almost as much as love at first sight, and wasting away because of forbidden love.

I like the love stories that are more open-ended. Maybe they lived happily ever after, but then again, maybe something happened and they drifted apart.

But for whatever reason, that’s not the story that Elkeles wanted to tell.

The plot is basically Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story. On the outside, Brittany Ellis has the perfect life: rich, does well in school, perfect boyfriend. On the outside, Alex Fuentes has a crappy life: poor, struggling, and a member of a Mexican gang called the Latino Bloods. They’re like oil and water: they don’t mix. Until they end up in the same senior chemistry class and end up as lab partners (due to the way the teacher assigns partners… they wouldn’t have chosen it). Against their will, sparks (of the good kind) fly, and they find that they are drawn toward each other. Except, being together isn’t in the cards for either of them… and yet, being apart is something that’s becoming harder and harder to do.

Obviously it’s a well-written book: I wouldn’t have had such a strong reaction to it if it wasn’t. And it’s a time-honored story, as well: who doesn’t love a book about star-crossed lovers from opposite sides of the tracks? (Well, me, but that’s beside the point.) Sure, there are stereotypes — even if I don’t read many books about Latin@s, I know that not every single male is a gang member or completely worthless (this makes two in the last two months, though) — but I can understand what Elkeles was trying to achieve by making them such polar opposites.

If only it had ended better (or worse), then maybe I wouldn’t have had such a strong reaction. Then again, if it had ended the way I wanted it to end, it wouldn’t be Elkeles’ book. (Can’t go rewriting books for authors just to suit my moods now, can I?)

by Sarah Dessen
ages: 13+
First sentence: “I taped the commercial back in April, before anything had happened, and promptly forgot about it.”
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Annabel’s life is perfect. Or, at the very least, it seems that way. She’s a model, she lives in a beautiful house, and until last May, she had a popular best friend in Sophie. Then…well, let’s just say everything falls apart. Sophie is on a vendetta against Annabel, everyone is looking at her (and not in a good way) and talking about her. On top of that, her older sister is dealing with anorexia. And it’s all Annabel can do to keep all the bad stuff in and everything looking perfect on the outside.

Then she meets Owen. Owen, who has anger management issues. Owen, who is so passionate about music that he listens to things that ordinary people won’t consider to be music. Owen, who is honest — almost brutally so. Owen, who may be exactly what Annabel needs to get through everything that’s been going on in her life, if she’ll only listen.

I think this is my favorite Dessen so far. (In fact, I let K watch more than her share of TV yesterday, as I read the book in one sitting.) Yeah, there’s a lot of issues going on in here, but Dessen handles them beautifully, without being heavy-handed. Which, I suppose, is one of the reasons she’s so popular. It’s some tough subjects, but they’re always treated with compassion.

But, more than that, I absolutely loved her characters. From Owen who is just made of awesome to his friend Rolly who is so cute I just wanted to wrap him up and put him in my pocket. Annabel herself was admirable — considering all the crap that went on in her life, she managed it quite well, and very, well, realistically. At any rate, I adored them all.

I’m beginning to see why Dessen’s so popular.

I didn’t even know this book was made into a movie, let alone a movie starring a youngish Bella (yes, I know her name is Kristen Stewart, but I look at her and say “Oh! That’s Bella!”). But, thanks to the miracles of Netflix, I discovered it, got it in the mail and watched it the other night.

On the one hand, I was wary as to how this would work as a movie, since the premise is that Melinda retreats into herself and doesn’t speak. It wouldn’t have been a very good movie if it was done entirely in voice over. As it was, there was a fair amount of voice over, but it was balanced with dialogue (more from Melinda than I expected) and I thought it worked.

As for the story, I thought the filmmakers did a decent job following the arc of the book, without giving too much away too soon. Of course I knew what happened, but Hubby (who, surprisingly, watched it with me) was impressed at the way they revealed Melinda’s rape. I’m not sure how well they caught the depression, but they used the trees quite admirably. That, and Steve Zahn was brilliant as Mr. Freeman.

It’s one of those cases, though, where the movie was good, the book was so much better. Anderson’s writing is more powerful than the movie gives the story credit for (or Bella’s acting, for that matter; she does sullen really well, but I think that may be about it). Anderson captured depression and helplessness in a way that made the reader feel depressed and helpless, and while the movie sparked some interesting discussions afterward, it didn’t involve the viewer in quite the same way.

Still, it was an interesting experience watching the story.

Verdict: the book’s better, but the movie wasn’t half-bad.