Sarah Dessen Mini Challenge 2009 – Completed

Yet another completed for 2009 !!! Yeah!!

So what if I just had to read 2 of Sarah Dessen’s books 🙂 It’s  still a challenge. Isn’t it?

Thanks to this Mini Challenge hosted by Becky I was able to discover this wonderful author who writes such great YA  books. Though I had to read just 2 books I finished a few more of her titles. But as usual lazy to write a review 😉

My reviews :

Lock And Key

Just Listen

Quick Review – Just Listen

Book: Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

Category : Young Adult

Protagonists : Annabel

Summary of the book from Goodreads

Last year, Annabel was “the girl who has everything; at least that’s the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf ‘s Department Store. This year, she’s the girl who has nothing: no best friend because mean-but-exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. Until she meets Owen Armstrong. Tall, dark, and music-obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad boy with a commitment to truth-telling. With Owen’s help, maybe Annabel can face what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends.

Things I liked about this book:

Like other Sarah Dessen’s books , Just Listen deals with many sensitive and important issues . Anorexia and it’s effects not just on the person but also on the family  has been portrayed in a touching manner. It’s not just Annabel’s sister Whitney who is going through a bad patch of life but her parents and sisters too have to suffer seeing her go about refusing food , resisting therapy and throwing tantrums. More  painful was that they  failed to see the signs of the condition popping up .Something they could have stopped if they had intervened earlier.

“Everything’s all right,” she said. “Don’t worry.”
Looking back, I don’t doubt my mom believed this at the time. I learned later how Whitney had
completely reassured her, saying she was just overworked and overtired, and while she had been
working out more and eating less because she had found she was a little bigger than the girls she was going up against for jobs, it was by no means to extreme levels. If Kirsten thought she wasn’t eating, she maintained, it was because they kept totally different hours, as Kirsten worked nights and Whitney worked days. Personally, she’d said, she felt that there was more to this than just concern. Since arriving in New York, Whitney had clearly been working more than Kirsten ever had, and perhaps that wasn’t sitting well. Maybe she was just jealous.
“I am not jealous!” I heard Kirsten say, her voice angry, a few minutes after my mother went downstairs.
“Don’t you see, she’s tricked you. Open your eyes !”

Not having been confident enough to tell  her part of the story concerning the day Sophie stopped being her best friend, Annabel  loses many things .Most importantly , she loses the life she used to have.  But that doesn’t make her look bad. She is just trying to protect her dear ones from getting hurt. initially though I could not judge her character or form an opinion ,I can tell you she was one of the those who starts growing on you as you read on.

Another highlight of the book was Annabel’s friendship with Owen. Their conversations were the ones I enjoyed the most in the book.

Things I disliked about the book : Nothing in particular

On my rating scale : 4  out of 5

Challenges for which the book is listed : Sarah Dessen Mini Challenge 2009

With this I complete my Sarah Dessen Mini Challenge 2009 🙂

Source : Personal Copy

Sarah Dessen Mini Challenge

The Sarah Dessen Mini-Challenge hosted by Becky at Becky’s Book Reviews will be for the year 2009. It begins January 1, 2009, and goes through December 31, 2009.

The goal of this challenge is to read TWO of her books. (Audio books are welcome.)
My 2 books for this challenge are:

1. Lock and Key

2. Just Listen

I might also read a few more if I am able to find them at my bookstore.