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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
Read for Memphis Public Library's Teen Bookletters. During freshman orientation, the incoming class breaks into groups who have to do a team-building project together. One group of five new students decide to write letters to their future selves. They'll hide these letters in the school building and come read them on graduation day. Together. Over four years, these five students fall in and out of each others' lives in surprising ways. Think of everything that can happen in four years... allergic reactions, car crashes, crushes, and identity crises - oh my!
I loved this book. It was fun to fast forward through their lives in High School, but I still felt I got to learn a lot about each character and root for them.
I'm always amazed when authors can take several different characters and tell one story through their various points of view -- especially when they are so very different as the characters in this story. Here, we have five different teens who meet for the first time at their high school's freshman orientation day and write letters to themselves to open again when they graduate. Zoe is the daughter of a famous movie star [who is in and out of rehab], and she's afraid that people only ever want to talk to her to find out more about her mom. Jake isn't quite sure where he stands now that he opened up about his true feelings for his [formerly?] best friend Teddy and bailed on football. Mia is so unsure of herself that she keeps trying to reinvent her persona with the hopes that she will eventually "find" a Mia she can be comfortable with. Gregor is a band geek who is hoping for "more" out of his high school experience -- especially if that "more" would involve Whitney. And Whitney is the pretty/popular girl who seems to have it all while she actually feels like her life is coming apart at the seams.
We follow these characters in their journey through high school and witness how even the smallest of bonds and seemingly minor interactions can actually make a big difference in people's lives. My only problem with this book is that it felt a little too condensed. It felt like there could have been more character development and more interaction if only there were time... I almost wish it had been stretched out into a series so we could get more details from each year. Who knows? Maybe there will be some novellas released to give readers extra background and to fill in the gaps of each school year. (A girl can dream, can't she?!?)
We follow these characters in their journey through high school and witness how even the smallest of bonds and seemingly minor interactions can actually make a big difference in people's lives. My only problem with this book is that it felt a little too condensed. It felt like there could have been more character development and more interaction if only there were time... I almost wish it had been stretched out into a series so we could get more details from each year. Who knows? Maybe there will be some novellas released to give readers extra background and to fill in the gaps of each school year. (A girl can dream, can't she?!?)
I liked this concept quite a bit and I think it could be reassuring for teens going into high school (although they'd have to be ok with some older high school actions-this book follows 5 teens all the way through high school). I wish we could have had more than just glimpses into each of their lives, but I get it's a lot of characters and time to compress. Thanks for being a reliable author always, Carolyn Mackler.
A nice YA coming of age novel. I appreciated the casual inclusion of a gay teen. One of the sweetest moments ever: after teen comes out to his parents, they present him with a box of gay YA lit that they have ALREADY READ.
Ugh!! The author skips over so many important details and events and discusses them very little later on. SPOILER: The entire book is about 5 teens who meet at high school orientation and write letters to their future selves. And then...they don't even read them after graduation!!! Never been so disappointed in an ending.
solid three stars!!
I was really looking forward to this one, because I thought the premise sounded really amazing! I ended up flying through this, and I really enjoyed it! I thought the characters were relatable and the idea ended up working out really well. The one complaint I had, and the reason that this is only three stars, is that I felt like the chapters were too short. There are five POVS in this novel, and every time I would feel oriented to a new person, I felt like the chapter would change. It was because of this that I felt like I didn't really connect to the characters fully until the book was almost over!!
Overall, nice premise, loved the characters, wasn't crazy about the layout.
I was really looking forward to this one, because I thought the premise sounded really amazing! I ended up flying through this, and I really enjoyed it! I thought the characters were relatable and the idea ended up working out really well. The one complaint I had, and the reason that this is only three stars, is that I felt like the chapters were too short. There are five POVS in this novel, and every time I would feel oriented to a new person, I felt like the chapter would change. It was because of this that I felt like I didn't really connect to the characters fully until the book was almost over!!
Overall, nice premise, loved the characters, wasn't crazy about the layout.
Not as good as I had hoped but I like the concept of these 5 characters who slip in and out of each other's lives over the 4 years of high school. I wanted more from all of them but I think that's hard to do in a novel covering so many characters over so much time. I felt the most for Zoe and Gregor. I do think there's something to the idea that you always sort of feel a little connected to those first people you meet in high school (and college too) even if you don't end up becoming the best of friends. I'd recommend this one.
Really enjoyed this one. 5 teens in a small town high school are in the same freshman orientation group and write letters to their future selves; to be opened on graduation day in 4 years. As we go through the 4 years and weave together these 5 lives the reader rides through all the many small and large "infinite" moments between that first introduction and graduation. It was funny, beautiful, hopeful, diverse, and touching. Highly recommend if you enjoy YA life-stories when multiple narratives wind together into one lovely story.