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Summary
Summary
From the author of the City Love trilogy.
It's sophomore year, and Marisa is ready for a fresh start and, hopefully, her first real boyfriend. But after popular Derek asks her out, things get complicated. Not only do her parents unexpectedly separate, but Marisa has a fight with her best friend, and Derek-the love of her life-delivers a shocking disappointment. The only things keeping Marisa together are the podcasts from the anonymous DJ, who seems to totally understand Marisa. But she doesn't know who he is . . . or maybe she does.
Author Notes
Susane Colasanti is the author of When It Happens, Take Me There, and Waiting for You . She has a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a master's degree from New York University. Before becoming a full-time author, Susane was a high school Physics and Earth Science teacher for almost ten years. She lives in New York City.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7-10-Marisa is getting tired of waiting for life to happen and wonders if she will ever find "the boy." As she struggles to find love, she also must deal with the ups and downs of friendship and the major changes that have rocked her family and will change her life forever. Susane Colasanti's use of descriptive text as she describes Marisa's small town on the water gives listeners a very real sense of place. There are few surprises in this book (Viking, 2009), and listeners will quickly figure out which boy Marisa will end up with as well has who the mysterious underground DJ is whose podcasts are the talk of her school. Despite the predictability, narrator Kate Rudd is able to take Colasanti's already believable cast of characters and make them immensely empathetic. With poignancy and a dash of humor, she captures all the heartache Marisa goes through as she copes with her parents' impending divorce and her first real boyfriend. Give this contemporary problem novel with a light tone to listeners who have enjoyed Sarah Dessen, Elizabeth Scott, and Deb Caletti's stories.-Shari Fesko, Southfield Public Library, MI (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Though Marisa struggles with an anxiety disorder and depression, she starts the school year wanting "everyone at school to know I am not a freak anymore." Her life becomes more exciting when Derek, the popular boy she has a crush on, asks her out. But when Marisa begins suspecting Derek's relationship with his ex, her obsessive negative thinking returns. Colasanti (Take Me There) expertly handles the plot, keeping it ambiguous whether Derek is cheating on Marisa, or if he is being honest when he tells her, "You're accusing me of something I didn't do." The author also nicely contrasts Marisa's exciting but shallow relationship with Derek with her much deeper connection to nerdy Nash, to whom she opens up about her problems. There is no doubt who Marisa will eventually be with (and readers will easily ID the mysterious Dirty Dirk, a DJ who provides advice and hope to students via podcasts). Colasanti presents an authentic picture of how complicated it is to be a teenager, especially one in love. Ages 12-up. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
There's only so much waiting a person can endure until they start thinking that maybe nothing exciting will ever happen to them. Like, ever." Marisa hopes sophomore year will spice up her life. It does--in the form of hottie Derek. Complications ensue when geeky "old soul" Nash shows interest. Though the story's setup is unimaginative, readers may relate to Marisa's plight. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Marisa spent freshman year grappling with anxiety disorder and depression. Now the amateur photographer is heading into sophomore year with some coping skills and waiting for love to find her. While her best friend is IMing older guys and her once-"normal" parents are separated, Marisa thinks she's finally found romance with popular Derek, her first boyfriend. Why, then, would she rather hang out and discuss her problems, especially her relapsing depression, with her "totally geeked out" chemistry partner, Nash? Maybe while Marisa's been waiting for love, it's been in front of her all along. The story isn't new, but Colasanti keeps it fresh by speaking to teens in their own language. Marisa's realistic, first-person narration ably captures the importance of typical adolescent problems. The author also offers a hint of mystery (although readers will soon figure it out) with a late-night radio show featuring Dirty Dirk, an anonymous student who reaches out to Marisa. Chick lit for girls who think. (Fiction. YA) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Seems like there ought to be an advocacy group for the stereotyped hot guy of YA literature who is always portrayed as a cheating slimeball. This title follows a familiar story line: Marisa is thrilled when gorgeous Derek starts dating her, but it doesn't last, and he is caught flirting heavily with his ex. The demise of her parents' marriage coincides with Marisa's own failing relationship, and astute readers will realize that her misplaced anger with her father should be redirected to her mother, who is the one having an affair. Throughout all this, nice, nerdy, next-door-neighbor Nash is there to support Marisa (and the rest of the school in his anonymous nightly advice podcasts, in which he answers e-mails and IMs). The twists in the plot are pretty transparent, and the language is peppered with enough he goes, she's like, and whatev's to signal the demise of grammatically correct English. Even so, the romance is less graphic than in many other similarly themed YA novels, and middle-school girls looking for love will find fufillment here.--Dobrez, Cindy Copyright 2009 Booklist
