A twist toward the end will surprise many readers, yet what follows falls perfectly in line with the story’s hopeful message. She deftly grounds Sam’s OCD support system with both her mother and therapist and gives readers an endearing romantic lead to root for. But now that she has found her tribe, does she need to keep up the ruse of being “normal”? This sensitive novel boasts strong characterizations and conflicts that many teens will relate to. At the start of junior year, Sam meets Caroline, who helps her manage her obsessions and draws her into the secret Poet’s Corner, where she meets AJ, whom she falls for hard, and who is equally falling for her. The main character has OCD, like The Unlikely Hero, and poetry is a large component of the book, which is similar to The Opposite of Geek. But inside she struggles with a secret that she fears could unravel everything: her purely obsessional OCD. Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone contains some similar threads to other books I have reviewed recently, The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten and The Opposite of Geek by Ria Voros. On the surface, Samantha McAllister has it all-success in the pool as a competitive swimmer and a group of popular friends. Her New York Times bestseller, Every Last Word, won the Cybils Young Adult Fiction Award, the Georgia Peach Book Award, the Buxtehuder Bulle German Youth Literature Award, and was a YALSA Teens’ Top Ten pick. Stone’s third YA novel is a thoughtful romance with a strong message about self-acceptance. TAMARA IRELAND STONE writes young adult and middle grade novels.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |