-The Book-
The book begins in April 2007 at the Virgina Tech. In the prologue we see Joshua Stevens gunned down in Spanish class during the VT tragedy. As the book progresses we meet his younger sister Loren Stevens. The majority of the book focuses on Loren's year after his death. Through out the book the narrator introduces the reader to a color full cast of characters from Latimer the Mute to Ms. Hall (no first name) to the over protective Susan. She spends her summer at Camp Piomingo. As they return to school we see Loren interact with new challanges and people. We are invited to four sweet sixteen parties, a school play, two vacations and prom. The book ends in May 2008 on a happy note with a very special wedding and all the characters seem to be at peace at last.
-The Review-
I will be honest when I first heard the concept of the book I thought the idea sounded crazy: it is about Loren Stevens whose brother dies at VT becomes a homeless angel and the book also happens to be narrated by a home less angel and oh their is a song for each section. Crazy Right? I have to say I loved this book from beginning to end. It is over 500 pages but it does not feel long enough. It was a quick read, it took me a day and a half. The dialogue was witty, the characters were interesting, and the plot flowed very well. There are a lot of components to the book but they all connect together perfectly. I loved that she chose to begin with the VT tragedy. It was a bold way to start but it was done creatively and respectfully. I loved how Courtney Ella Hrabik brought Bug Juice back to life by having Loren on the show. I think alot of the readers grew up watching that show so it was so cool to see it again. It is also an example of how Courtney Ella perfectly blended our reality with Loren's reality. What depressed me about the book was how honestly she showed Americans after tragedy. How we get so upset and tend to generalize. We see this when Loren initially over reacts when an Asian student joins her class. When I first read it I thought 'Racist'. But as I thought about it more I came to realize that was probably an honest reaction that most in that situation would do. Sadly I also think most Americans act just like Principal Mitchell. The mother/daughter relationship also disappointed me. In a time like that your mother should be a pilar of strength and it was the opposite in this book. What really depressed me was that Courtney Ella noted that the relationship was based on her own with her mother. Then their is the teenage dynmanic. The friendships, drama, and dating was spot on. That brings us to the music. Oh my gosh it was the perfect playlist for her year. The music was an indicator what the chapter/section was going to be about. The songs she chose fits each section and just lets you experience the story in another way. Does any one know if there is an iMix on iTunes for this book yet? I would love to download it. You could tell that she put so much time and effort in to making this book a time capsle for the year. I mean the book is about Loren's year but reading the book it brought me back to that year and how I had many of the same experiences. We see Loren send in a post secret post card, we see reference to many TV shows, get a facebook and twitter, drive, date, and text. It is also apparent where Courtney Ella likes to get pizza, coffee, etc because she mentions those places through out the whole book. Including an almost full page for Starbucks and Carmel Apple cider. The last thing I found really interesting about the book was that she gave a detailed background of the book and character bio. Like where each character ends up and why she chose each song. I had never seen a writer do that before. It was a cool touch.
This book is for 15 and up for mild language and situations. This book was written for a female audience in mind. I would reccomend this book to teenagers who do not like to read because it does not feel like a book.
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