Shelf of Favorites: Starring Sarah Dessen's books

What Happened To Goodbye? by Sarah Dessen

     "Since her parents’ bitter divorce, McLean and her dad, a restaurant consultant, have been on the move-four towns in two years. Estranged from her mother and her mother’s new family, McLean has followed her dad in leaving the unhappy past behind. And each new place gives her a chance to try out a new persona: from cheerleader to drama diva. But now, for the first time, McLean discovers a desire to stay in one place and just be herself, whoever that is. Perhaps Dave, the guy next door, can help her find out." 
(From Sarah Dessen's site: http://sarahdessen.com/books/ )
      At last Sarah Dessen's newest book is out.  And I wasn't disappointed in it.  Once again Ms.  Dessen manages to have the perfect plot, characters, and writing style, captivating my attention for a whole afternoon. As soon as I opened the book I was glad to accompany Mclean Sweet on her life changing journey.  
       Don't all high school girls at one time or other just wish they could shed their true identity and personality and start anew? I know I have, quite a few times in fact. McLean Sweet, though, really does get that chance.  Living with her dad, she moves, quite often, to a new city or town.  At every new place she changes her first name, (Beth, Lizbeth etc) and her personality, (cheerleader, drama diva etc).  But for some strange reason, when she moves to this new town (can't remember the name)  she doesn't change her name.  As to her personality, she's not sure what is it now.  She has serious identity crisis.  Slowly, she changes and accepts herself as she is.  
      The problems she has with her mom after the divorce are so realistic.  I for one have never experienced what going through a parental divorce is like, but my mom has and so I know from her that the feeling McLean feels toward her mother are very real.  I love how kind and understanding Dave is with McLean, and her new found friends are just as great.  As always, Ms. Dessen presents wonderful dialogue, some of it is downright hilarious while other parts very emotional.  
     Exceptance of one's self is amazingly hard, but McLean conquerors her fears and excels. 
     What Happened to Goodbye has been added to my favorites shelf, right next to it's predecessors, Just Listen and Lock and Key.

The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas

   I know, I know, it's unusual for me to post a review on a book that is NOT young adult fiction, but due to the complete AWESOMENESS of this classic, I couldn't resist. So here goes....
       "A Roman soldier, Marcellus, wins Christ's robe as a gambling prize. He then sets forth on a quest to find the truth about the Nazarene's robe-a quest that reaches to the very roots and heart of Christianity and is set against the vividly limned background of ancient Rome. Here is a timeless story of adventure, faith, and romance, a tale of spiritual longing and ultimate redemption." (Review from Amazon.com)


    To start, I have to admit that I have read and re-read The Robe at least half a dozen times in the last four years. So I am very biased in favor of reading it.  To those who are opposed to Christianity, this book should not bother you too much. But to those who are Christian's or interested in the christian religion I must warn you that the theology in the book is not perfectly correct.  Since this is my review though, I will not go into detail into why is it not correct. 
    Now for the review.  The Robe starts rather slow and the language/writing style, although not hard on Shakespeare or Dickens terms, is very difficult to read. Personally, I find his rich and detailed style very fascinating. Douglas describes everything with great mental illustrations, making the stories unfold vividly. His characters are realistic and believable.  The love between Marcellus and Diana sweet and authentic. But as much as I enjoy the romances in books, in the Robe the relationship I  relish the most is Marcellus and his slave/best friend Demetrius.  Their friendship goes much deeper than the average slave/master relationship.  The two are closer than brothers, best friends and both are willing to die for the other.  Although Demetrius started as Marcellus's slave, by the end they are like kinsmen.  Their friendship is so strong and heart warming that it almost makes me teary. I might also add, that all the character's relationships with others are relate-able and true.  As for the plot, nothing could possibly be so funny, despairing and touching as The Robe's tale.  Twisting and raw the Robe puts life in the early Christian's days in a new light.  It brings history to life as it tells stories of various Roman Emperors, including Little Boots and shows how roman politics worked.  The Robe is nothing less than a masterpiece.