I’m a pretty big fan of Sarah Dessen when it comes to teen romance. This one wasn’t really about romance though. Sure there’s a girl and boy and they like each other, but it’s a lot more about how McLean manages her life after her parents divorce. McLean is mad at her mother, and there are good reasons for that. As a result, she chooses to live with her father, a choice that means adapting to her dad’s lifestyle. As a restaurant consultant, he’s never in one place very long. This means McLean’s been moved from place to place and school to school. She’s become an expert on packing her clothes, keeping household “stuff” to a bare minimum and oh yeah, keeping people at a safe distance. Everywhere McLean goes she gives a different name (all variants of her middle name, Elizabeth) and adopts a different persona. Since she’s not really herself, it doesn’t hurt quite so much when they have to pick up and leave. But everything goes to pieces when she and her father get to Lakeview. McLean somehow ends up giving her real name and accidentally makes some real friends. With everything going so differently, McLean isn’t ready for the next move.
Sarah Dessen’s books range from fairly chaste like this one, to dealing with teen pregnancy and bad relationship choices (Someone Like You). If you are sensitive to issues of teen sex and drinking, check each book out carefully before proceeding.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – There’s pretty much no sex in this one, so pretty clean. We know that an adult cheated on another adult. There’s a kiss. People are “making out” at a party. A girl is told to change an inappropriate outfit. A girl calls a guy a perv for staring at her boobs. Something is described as “an administrator’s wet dream.”
Profanity – “damn/ed,” “bitch,” “sucked,” “screwed,” “ass,” bull/shit,” “hell,” “Oh my God,” “bejesus,” “crap,”
Death, Violence and Gore – Two slight injuries, in one case rumor is spread that it was caused by a fight, but it was not.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Parents drink occasionally. There is some smoking. There’s limited amount of teen drinking. It happens at a party (kegs are present), and one kid is arrested for underage drinking even though it pretty much the only time he ever drank. There are “stoners” at school. A girl got kicked out of school for drugs (this is just mentioned, it isn’t a character or anything).
Frightening or Intense Things – Nothing really frightening or intense but the theme of divorce and remarriage is an important one in this book.
