Rereading Sarah Dessen: Someone Like You

Welcome this month's edition of the I Eat Words Sarah Dessen Read/Reread Challenge! Check out this post that explains the details about the awesomeness that is this challenge. This month my best friend Sandy and I reread Someone Like You, Dessen's second novel. This one has a soft spot in my heart because it was the first one I read. I found it randomly while working at the library when I was in high school. I was shelf reading, thought the title sounded interesting, read it, told Sandy to read it, and a love affair was born.

Synopsis:

Halley has always followed in the wake of her best friend, Scarlett. But when Scarlett learns that her boyfriend has been killed in a motorcycle accident, and that she's carrying his baby, she's devastated. For the first time ever, Scarlett really needs Halley. Their friendship may bend under the weight, but it'll never break--because a true friendship is a promise you keep forever.

About the Story

Main  Character: Halley Cooke

Age: 16 (fun fact: Halley would now be 33...we know she was born in 1980)

School Year or Summer?: Both...the novel starts with two weeks of summer left but the majority takes place during the school year.

Boy: Macon Faulkner

First description of the boy: "His blond hair, cut short over his ears, stuck up in tiny cowlicks. In one ear was a row of three silver hoops." (page 30) "He was in a white T-shirt ripped along the hem and dark blue shorts, those clunky boots on his feet. He was tall and wiry, and tan from a summer working landscaping." (page 32)

Crushable?: Maybe...if you like the bad boys.

Big Secret?: In a way, yes.

Heavy Storyline?: Yes.

Parents Together?: Yes.
Sibling(s)?: No.

Takes Place In: Lakeview.

Cameos: None that I could tell. This was her second book, after all.

About the Book

Released: 1998

Epigraph?: No.

Format (of the copy I read): Paperback

Own?: Yes.

Signed?: Yes.

Read or Reread: Reread.

Age when first read: Oh man...15? 16? 

New cover vs older cover: I'm actually torn. I don't get the jar and butterflies but at the same time I don't get the sand, flip flops, and drawn heart. 

My Thoughts
Just as I remembered, Someone Like You is pretty heavy. Right away we learn that a classmate of Halley's, Michael, has died and that her best friend Scarlett had been dating him. Then we find out that Scarlett is pregnant with his baby. Around this time Halley, a quiet good girl, has also started hanging out with Macon, Michael's best friend, who has quite the reputation. It's a lot to deal with and I think Halley gets through it all the way most sixteen year old girls would - by shutting out her mother, confiding only in her best friend, and continuing to date the bad boy.
It was really hard to read as Halley fell in deeper with Macon - especially since I knew what was going to happen. Since I've got ten years on her, it was like watching your little sister or niece date a loser or jerk who you know is no good for her but you can't say or do anything. You just have to wait until she figures it out for herself and be there when she needs you. In the book, Halley has Scarlett who is trying to be the voice of reason. She tells her to be careful but, of course, Halley's not listening. Being a true best friend, Scarlett helps her through the inevitable mess near the end of the book.
As I'm writing this I'm realizing that I think I liked Scarlett more than Halley. Not that I disliked Halley. She is a great character and I loved reading her story. Maybe it goes back to what Halley says about feeling like she's an outline of herself and is just waiting for the colours to be filled in. Scarlett already has most of her outline filled in - with reds and golds - so you can't help be drawn to her just a little bit more. She's got a good head on her shoulders (even though she did end up getting pregnant...but "it came off"!) and is a great secondary character and an even better best friend.
I know it's been a long time since I had read this book (at least ten years, I'd say) but I had completely forgotten Cameron, the new kid, existed. He shows up about halfway through the book (and school year). Halley is hanging out with Macon more and more but Scarlett's pregnancy is moving along and she needs someone to be there for her. Cameron comes along at just the right moment. He has a few sweet scenes where it's clear he cares for Scarlett but we don't get to know how much and I'm left feeling like their story is unfinished. I just wish things had been a little clearer with the two of them.
I'm glad I got the chance to reread this one because I always get confused due to the movie How to Deal, which combined That Summer and Someone Like You. The movie really softens both the relationship between Halley and Macon, and his personality. While I like that better, I think the book version is, sadly, a lot more realistic. Is this one of my favourite Dessen books? No, not really. But I do think it's worth the read. It's a fabulous young adult novel.
I'll finish with a quote that really stuck out for me:

"Because life is an ugly, awful place to not have a best friend." (page 23)

I completely agree. I'd be lost without my best friends!

Sandy's Thoughts

My first impression of Someone Like You is the movie it helped spawn in the early 2000’s (How to Deal, starring Mandy Moore). The first time I read it was after I was already in love with the movie. It interests me how the movie powers that be decide which parts of a book make the movie cut and which don’t. All book fans wish that the entire book could become the film adaptation but that is rarely so. There are always changes. How to Deal combines the pregnant best friend (Scarlett), Halley, and Macon of Someone Like You with the main character parents and sister with a wedding of That Summer. I have always wondered why the script was divided in this way. Of course to me every Sarah Dessen book should be a movie, so I am not the most objective critic.

I do, however, have the ability to separate book and movie and love them equally if not differently if they are both good. The one thing I can’t stand is killing off a character in a movie who does not die in the book (ie. In The Bourne Supremacy Marie dies in the movie but not in Robert Ludlum’s novel). So enough ranting and onto Someone Like You proper.

Someone Like You is a fantastic example of a strong teen angst coming of age novel. It showcases the typical friction between a mother and daughter that have been close until the dreaded teenage years. Halley and her mom are practically twins until she begins to resent the way her mother is constantly controlling her life and her decisions. Growing means becoming your own person, an entity outside of your parents desires. The resentment gets stronger throughout the book and reaches the point where Halley feels that everything her mother says has a double meaning, a condescending one. It takes years of future maturing to realize that not everything your parents say is a slight against you. Some advice is granted out of the pure need to protect you, some is to keep you from repeating their mistakes, and some is just to test you. Halley begins to realize this and take the pieces of her mother’s advice that suit her.

Sarah Dessen introduces an interesting theory at the very beginning of the book. On page 23 she tells us, “…life is an ugly, awful place to not have a best friend.” This is a wonderful quote and I could not agree more. (Blogger note: We did not coordinate our reviews! Clearly Sandy and I are BFFs!) Adolescence is scary enough to experience without the added benefit of someone going through it with you. Halley and Scarlett fall into their friendship and never look back. Each has their own uniqueness that helps the other during different difficult times of their lives. Scarlett can make friends with anyone, she is outgoing and strong but Halley is sympathetic and loyal enough to stand by a friend no matter what the consequences in her own life may be. There is a certain peace to having a best friend and knowing that they understand you and you belong with them.

It helps you develop a better sense of self. For example, when Halley is considering having sex with Macon she is aware that he is being persistent and a little pushy and she stands up to him. When she wavers and reconsiders it is Scarlett that reminds her that girls like them do not have sex without saying I love you first (page 202). This point stays in the back of Halley’s mind and helps to guide her to the right decision for herself. That is what a best friend is for. To help you see things differently and be there when you stumble anyway. Scarlett and Halley are there or each other no matter what. Even an unplanned pregnancy cannot divide them, though Halley’s mother would like to try.

I think that this novel is a wonderful divergence from the usual teen pregnancy story line. Scarlett and Halley are the goody-goodies of their high school. No one expects Scarlett to become pregnant, not even Scarlett, but it happens and she deals with it in a rational and very adult like manner (no doubt because of having to raise her own mother). Scarlett stays in school, keeps her baby and adapts her future. The loss of Michael is too great to lose his child as well.  In many other tales, especially television shows, the pregnant teen becomes such because she was at risk in the first place. Sarah Dessen throws a twist into the regularly used plot by taking the father of the child out of the picture in such a tragic manner that the reader sympathizes with Scarlett’s decision to keep the child. Much like Halley, the reader never questions the decision again. 

This novel is an excellent “role model” for teen girls in my opinion. I know that seems strange due to Scarlett’s pregnancy but it is the strength of the characters that I admire.

Halley knows her own mind when dealing with Macon after the honeymoon period is over. She knows what he wants and what it will take to keep him but she also knows that she is not ready to give in. By the end of the book she realizes what someone like her deserves because she realizes who she is. We all deserve to be ourselves and be loved for it, if not by a guy or our friends then we deserve to be loved by ourselves. Halley realizes that and it helps to make her life a little more peaceful. 

Next month

October's book of choice is Keeping the Moon. I don't really remember much about this one so I'm interested to see what I think about it now.

Sarah Dessen Rocks My World

If you were to ask me who my favourite author is my answer would be Sarah Dessen. I don't care if she's a young adult author and I'm not a young adult anymore (well...technically I am, but not in the world of book categories). I will keep reading her books as long as she keeps writing them, no matter how old I get.

I've been reading Sarah Dessen for a really long time. Her first novel, That Summer , was originally released in 1996 (all these dates will be coming from the Goodreads pages) and her second, Someone Like Youwas published in 1998. When I started reading her books I was in high school so it was a few years after they were released (somewhere around 2001 or 2002 I think) but still early on in her career. I happened upon Someone Like You one day when I was at the library (and was very likely working at the time...found some of the best books that way). I can barely remember reading it but I do recall telling my best friend about it because I loved it so much. She read it and we've been hooked ever since.

Dessen has written a total of ten books and, for the most part, I find I love the newest one more than the last. I say "for the most part" because I didn't actually love What Happened to Goodbye (released this past May) as much as Along for the Ride (released June 2009). I'm not really sure why but it didn't seem to grab me as much - maybe I'm *gasp* getting too old for her novels? I sincerely hope that is not the case.

Let me do a quick mini review of Dessen's newest novel, What Happened to Goodbye - I really did like McLean and the fact that she and her dad had a special bond over basketball (I've always been tall so I played basketball myself all the way through elementary and high school). I also loved that her dad had a job much like Gordon Ramsey on Kitchen Nightmares - just without the accent and massive amounts of swearing.  Now, don't get me wrong I absolutely adored the book. It just wasn't one of my favourites. I would still highly recommend it - especially to teens who are looking for something that has nothing to do with vampires.

I've written before about how much I love Sarah Dessen (you can read the posts here and here). When I used to work for a bookstore I would always try to recommend her books to teenagers and the parents who were looking to buy for their daughters. What I really love about Dessen is that no matter what your own situation in life is you will be able to find something in the main character (always female and always a teenager) that you can relate to. And it doesn't hurt that the novels all seem to be set during the summer! My all time favourite Dessen novel is This Lullaby. I think it's because I was able to identify with Remy and her situation a little bit more and I really wanted to find my own Dexter! It's been years since I've read it (and it's on my fairly large pile of to re-read pile, along with Something Borrowed and the entire Harry Potter series!) but I remember absolutely loving it.

With this year's release of What Happened to Goodbye, Sarah Dessen went on the usual book tour - with one notable exception. She came to Canada!!! I was very happy about this because she came to Toronto and I'm only a couple of hours north of the city. My best friend and I decided that no matter what we were going to one of the two talks and signings in September. Now, bear with me for a bit of story time...It was late in the evening the day before we planned to go to the Indigo event instead of the library event the day after and I decided to check my email. Imagine my surprise when I discovered an email telling me that I had won a contest and WOULD GET TO MEET SARAH DESSEN!!! I was so incredibly shocked and immediately called my friend to change our plans. She was just as speechless as I was! I have to say that I was not impressed that I found out with hardly any notice, but we changed our plans and made the drive to Toronto to the library event (in hindsight and from what we heard, it was a much better venue and event). We couldn't believe it. We got to go into a room with a few other contest winners and their guests (probably about 15 of us total) and chat with Sarah Dessen. It was unbelievable. We hung back and let some of the other girls ask questions (in this post by Dessen you can see a pic of the room but my friend and I were standing outside the frame!) but soaked up the awesomness of the evening. We were definitely some of the oldest there, we're 24 and many of the others in the audience ranged from 14-20, but we didn't mind one bit. We got our books signed and had the chance to talk to her quickly. Then there was the talk afterwards which was absolutely amazing. We learned so much about her (and I totally want to be her best friend) and her writing style. This was easily the highlight of my year!

Can you tell that I'm totally freaking out?

If you're still with me after this novel of a post, all I can really say is that I adore Sarah Dessen. I think she is an absolutely amazing person (read her blog to learn more about her) and an equally amazing author. I can't recommend her books enough. Even if you're past the young adult stage, I still think most people would love her books. I'd love to know if any of you have read any of Sarah Dessen's novels and what you thought about them. I'm already looking forward to her next one!

Happy reading :)

Sharing the Love

Sorry for the delay in posts, but here's another novel sized one for your reading pleasure :)

I absolutely love being able to get someone hooked on one of my favourite authors or books. One of the two jobs I have is at a bookstore and this allows me to recommend what I like to customers, which is probably my favourite part of the job.

I've been recommending books to people for years. I worked at my town's public library all through high school and that led to me becoming the unofficial book loaner/recommender among my friends. It hasn't stopped, and I love it. I suppose it's not really surprising that this happened - since I was working with books all the time, I was always learning what was new and being exposed to books that my friends and I may never have found.

Just the other week I had a conversation with a friend about how we happened upon one of our favourite authors - Sarah Dessen. We've been reading her for the longest time and still get excited when she writes a new books (May 2011! Can't wait!) After thinking about it for awhile, my friend realized that I had just found one of her books (Someone Like You, I'm pretty sure) at the library one day and decided to give it a shot. Boy, am I happy I did. I now own all but three of her books (store discounts are a wonderful thing) and have lent them to several of my friends. Just this past summer I got a coworker hooked on them too, which was great. She devoured the six books I have in about two weeks. (We booksellers are speedy readers!) By the way, if you don't know who Sarah Dessen is, maybe you remember the movie Mandy Moore and Trent Ford starred in a few years back, How to Deal. That movie is actually based on both Someone Like You and That Summer, Dessen's first two novels. By the way, Sarah Dessen has her own blog, which is a great read, but maybe just for those who are totally obsessed with her books :)

The same friend who got hooked on Dessen with me was also the one who was refusing to read Twilight a few summers ago. Now, I am one of the first ones to say that it is not the best writing and yes, Edward is quite stalkerish and creepy, but...the story itself is pretty addictive. I must also point out that I read all the books before the first movie came out and made teenage girls crazy. Ok, crazier. I had had a lot of girls coming into the store telling me how great the series was, so as soon as I was done school for the summer I decided to check them out of the library (yes, I work in a bookstore but I still love my library). Twilight sat on the table for two weeks before I got around to reading it, and once I did, that was it. I read the next two in quick succession and only had to wait about a month for the fourth. Sometime during this summer, I brought up the series with my friend who immediately said that she really didn't think that she'd like them. Knowing her taste in books, I insisted that she would. Her cousin and other best friend had told her that she would like them, but since I was her own personal librarian, she trusted my judgement and gave them a try. Yes, she now loves them too.

My final sharing story involves another fantasy series, Percy Jackson. This was another case of having customers (young kids and parents alike) rave about the books. I started to really notice it right before the movie came out, so once again I vowed to read them as soon as school was finished. I borrowed them from a coworker and was instantly hooked. No matter that these books are really targeted to ten year old boys. I am a twenty three year old female and I absolutely love them. I encouraged parents to buy them for their kids and had in depth conversations with eight year olds about Percy's world. (Check them out if you've never heard of them.) I had talked about them so much at work with the other people who had read them, that one girl gave me the first three as a going away present. Which I immediately lent to my mom's boyfriend so he could read them too. He's a huge fan of Harry Potter so I knew he would love these too...score another point for me, because he did. I also lent them to my sister's boyfriend at the time because he was about to go away to school for classics. I knew he'd love them because of the Greek myths (which is one of the coolest parts to this series) and he liked them so much that we actually got all five for him for Christmas.

I think part of the reason I'm pretty good at my job (if I do say so myself) is that I love to talk about books and what I like and try and figure out what other people might like too. It's like a puzzle, as long as the customer wants to play along and isn't looking for a book for their grandmother but they have no idea what she reads. Argh. Sorry. Fellow booksellers will know that frustration well. Anyways, getting people hooked on books is a lot of fun for me and I'm glad that my friends give me the chance to do that. They let me ramble on about books and trust me to buy/find ones that they'll love. A big thank you to them. And a thank you to you, whoever is reading this and made it through the whole post!

That's all for now...check back soon for another post :)