Sunday, November 4, 2012

You Have Seven Messages (Stewart Lewis)

Summary:
Luna has recently lost her mother, and when visiting her mother's old studio, she finds her mother's cell phone, and a man's cuff link she doesn't recognize. She checks the phone, and there are seven messages left on the phone. She is curious, and wants to figure out why there's a stranger's cuff link in her mother's studio, and why her dad isn't telling her everything. The cute boy across the street from her even offers to help solve the mystery. But will her whole world change when she finds out the truth?

Thoughts:
Very interesting. I really enjoyed this. Sure, Luna takes some really big risks, and should probably have not done all the things she did (she's only fourteen), but if she feels she's ready to know the things she winds up knowing, she's got a right to it. The book really deals with a teen that's not completely ready to let go of her mother yet, and is aided in that process by the messages she finds, and the people she meets along the way. The last few chapters are, I'll admit, a little weird. (She travels to Italy to get away from New York City and the things she finds out about her mother.) But it works out fairly well by the end. Sure, the book ends with a lot of open endings, but sometimes life doesn't get that happy ending we're always expecting, or even an ending at all. For once, this non-ending ending is not as offensive as many others I've encountered.

Book 43 of 50

Pages: 304
Genre: teen lit
Grade: B
Would I Recommend?: Sure, especially a teenager trying to deal with a loss.

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