The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

Title: The Moon and More
Author: Sarah Dessen
ISBN: 9780670785605
Publisher: Viking
Released: June 4, 2013
Page #: 435
Source: ARC from the publisher

Summary: 
"Like is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they group up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.

Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo's sophisticated and exciting, and best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.

Emaline's mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he's convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, sisters, and friends. Can she ignore the pull of happily familiar world of Colby?

Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going?"
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First Lines: (quote from the ARC, subject to change)

"Here they come. 
'- or I promise you, we'll turn right around and go back to Paterson!' the woman behind the wheel of the burgundy minivan was shouting as it pulled up beside me."
Page 1

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Review:

I will readily admit that I have never read a Sarah Dessen book before. Mostly because I keep hearing that she will make you cry. Pretty much every time. And I'm never emotionally ready for something like that :). But I hadn't read any reviews of this one yet, so I gave it a shot.

Emaline lives in a premiere summer beach location. The tourists come and go, but the locals stick together. This summer, she finds herself questioning everything and preparing to go to college. Things with her longtime boyfriend go sour and a new guy pops up. He is from a whole other world - a world she really doesn't understand. And it's time for her to figure out who she is going to become and where her heart lies.

This is pretty much the supreme summer book. I sort of wish I had been on my own beach vacation while reading it. Of course things don't work out that way. :) Anyway, it's sort of an interesting look at the lives of the people who live near a big tourist stop. There are places the locals hang out, there are places the locals avoid like the plague, and there are people they protect with everything they've got. The location was almost a character itself - mostly because it was so much a part of Emaline's character.

I really think Dessen has a knack for writing relationships. Every relationship in Emaline's life felt 100% real. From the relationship with her father, her mother, Luke, and even her little brother Benji. The ups and downs were very plausible. There weren't any moments when I thought that something wouldn't happen like that in real life. And there's something very refreshing about that. In truth, Theo was a little over-the-top and I had a hard time liking him. But that's what a summer romance is all about, isn't it? You can be with someone different without worrying too much about that stuff.

I know there are tons of Sarah Dessen fans out there already, so this book is an easy sell. Realistic girl drama. I'm glad I chose this book as my introduction to the author. The ending was contemplative, but not particularly sad. I enjoyed that it gave you things to think about... and things to wonder about the future of the characters.

If you're a fan of this author, you'll definitely want to go pick this one up. It's a solid story with heart. 
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