Book Review and Giveaway: Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

I know, I know! This isn't a dystopian title, but the one little non-dystopian post I'll be doing this month.  You see, over at Sarah-Land ning, Penguin is celebrating The Summer of Sarah for Sarah fans new and old to get excited about Sarah Dessen's backlist titles in preparation for her new book coming out next year WHAT HAPPENED TO GOODBYE.  This week, it's all about JUST LISTEN, and you have a chance to win a signed copy here and another signed copy over at Sarah-Land.

Here's what Sarah has to say about the novel:

People are always interested to learn where a story comes from, and I’m often asked where I get the ideas for my books. The truth is, sometimes I don’t even know: rather than just one big moment, it’s often a lot of little random thoughts, scribbled notes on scraps of paper and backs of receipts, that make up a novel. Other times, though, you can trace a story’s beginning back to a specific moment. That’s what happened with Just Listen.

It was the fall of 2004, and I was about to start a new book. I had a couple of ideas kicking around in my head, some things I knew I wanted to do, but nothing concrete just yet. One day, I was sitting in the lobby of a private school, waiting to do a talk, when I saw a yearbook on the table beside me. I picked it open and started to flip through it, looking at the sports shots, different classes, and finally the senior pages, which were filled with personal photos from each of the graduates. One in particular jumped out at me. It was a shot of three beautiful girls, obviously sisters, all blonde, posing together by a pool, and even at first glance all I could think was that they looked like the kind of girls who had everything. A great family, fabulous social life, palpable confidence, all the stuff I wished I had in high school, and beyond. Then someone called my name: it was time to give my talk. So I shut the book, and left it behind.

Later though, when I was driving home, I kept thinking about that picture, and how quickly I’d made assumptions about it. After all, nobody’s life is perfect, and you can’t tell anything from just one shot, one day. I started to wonder what it would be like to be one of those girls, with everyone so quick to judge, and just how wrong they might be. And just like that, Annabel’s story, which had been hovering in my head in bits and pieces, began to come together.

It is always my intention to write a simple, streamlined novel, short and sweet. But that never happens. Instead, I begin with one idea, which morphs into another, and then another, like a picture that grows past its frame to show everything else that’s happening you can’t see at first. So like The Truth About Forever, my last book, Just Listen has a lot going on. There’s modeling, music, family dynamics, and even bacon. It also brings back a few people those of you who have read my other books might recognize, and I hope will be happy to see again.

No writing process is ever easy, and this book took a lot out of me. Looking back, I think that like Annabel, I had a hard story to tell, and sometimes it was tough to work up to getting it out. I kept going back, rewriting, not trusting that I was doing it justice. It was only once it was finished that I was able to see that all along, I should have been taking my own advice. Not over thinking, backtracking, or obsessing, but instead simply letting Annabel have her say. I just needed to listen. I hope you will, too.

And here's what I have to say:

On the surface, Annabel seems like the perfect teen. But she’s starting to crack under the pressure of broken friendships, dark secrets, and family troubles. Then she meets Owen and finds in this loner, music-obsessed boy with anger management problems someone who always speaks the truth and who will just listen.

Believe it or not, JUST LISTEN was my first ever Sarah Dessen novel. And despite the tragic circumstances in my life while I was reading it, I did get rather sucked into the story.

Owen is a marvelous creation – an atypical love interest for a YA novel – raw, honest and real. His relationship with Annabel reminded me of a book I loved as a preteen JUST A LITTLE BIT LOST by Laurel Trivelpiece in which the wallflower main character gets lost on a school hiking trip with the most popular boy in school and they grow to trust each other and really bond. I really like stories about very different people looking beyond the surface to see their similarities. I also loved all the scenes with Owen’s younger sister – she’s a riot!

Annabel was a bit frustrating for me though. She never really lets you get inside her head, which is something I feel is essential in this type of book. You do come to understand some of her motivations for her semi-withdrawal from life, but I never did get why she let former best friend Sophie push her around like she did. I think she lost a lot of sympathy points by being such a pushover.

But still, this is one of the better contemporary YA realistic fiction I've read and I'm sure I'll read more Sarah Dessen in the future.

Your chance to win:

I have one signed copy of JUST LISTEN to giveaway to one lucky reader with a US mailing address. Copy is provided and sent by the publisher. Just tell me in the comments what Sarah Dessen novel I might try next (or if you haven't read any, than any contemporary YA realistic novel).  Contest will close Monday August 8th at 11:59 pm CST.

You also have two more chances to win over at Sarah-Land by answering the fun trivia questions this week about JUST LISTEN.

And tomorrow I'll review my first dystopian title of the month, promise!