Cover Love:
I don't love it but I do like that it is generic and a boy could be seen reading this as easily as a girl.
Why I Wanted to Read This:
I actually wasn't caught up by the synopsis and hadn't planned on reading it, but all the buzz and gushing reviews (some by people who don't normally gush) got me interested. Here's the synopsis from GoodReads:
If seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom—that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she’s ever worked for is on the line.Romance?: Oh yes!
Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be. What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise—a quirky motel off California’s dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper.
My Thoughts:
This book was very moving. You can't help but feel for Sky because she needs to get out of Creek View. There is no getting around that. She has to go to save herself and everyone knows this--her best friends, her mother, even Josh. But, she has a hard time actually taking the steps. Even though everything is in place, her acceptance and scholarship to college, I think she spends most of the summer looking for excuses as to why she shouldn't leave. Oddly enough, Josh never becomes an excuse, it mostly has to do with her mom. I think this is very typical because most teens really want to leave home, but a lot of them have a hard time actually doing it. Sometimes, they need a push.
I loved Skylar though. I hardly ever got frustrated by her actions. The author did a great job of helping us understand the situations Sky encounters so that how she reacts seems very realistic. Once again, it all comes down to communication and when she and Josh finally are able to really talk great things happen.
I loved Josh. Although very little of the book was written from his point of view, what we saw was painful and real. There are so many layers to what he has to get through to figure out what he finally wants to do with his life. He has so much survivor's guilt and so little self worth. He is a very well written character. Already in his life he has had to deal with things many of us never have to see.
Sky and Josh coming together is so natural. She doesn't treat him any different than before and she doesn't Florence Nightingale him. Their attraction is real and wonderful. This book made me cry and smile and blush. I just adored reading it!
To Sum Up: I feel this is a little mature for my library--lots of swear words and sex talk and acts. But, if I were a teen girl this book would be one I would read over and over.
I like the cover, I see what you mean about appealing to both boy/girl's. I'd love to see more like this.
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