Just Listen *****

Dessen, Sarah. Just Listen. 2006.

LOVED IT. LOVED IT. LOVED IT. Of course, I have loved everything Sarah Dessen has written so far.

After an incident at a party, Annabel's best friend Sophie dumps her and turns the whole school against her. Now that school has started up, she sits alone at lunch but eventually strikes up a friendship with a guy at school that was previously arrested for anger problems and has just returned to school. She also has a hard time telling the truth because she doesn't want to hurt people. She continues modeling even though she doesn't want to because she is afraid to hurt her mother's feelings. She is afraid to tell her family about what happened at the party because it will upset them all, and she doesn't want to take the spotlight off her sister Whitney who is suffering from an eating disorder. Her friendship with Owen starts to help her see that all of the lying and covering up of her feelings is really just hurting her.

I highly recommend this book. While she is flawed, Annabel is very likable and sympathetic. The reader will hope that she resolves her problems and that her family will stay intact. Highly recommended for all female readers. This book is rather long, but well worth the time. Readers should also go back and read her previous novels as they are also gems!