#ReadaDessen Campaign: The Truth about Forever & Wes's art

Today I'm really excited to be sharing some art that reminds me of one of my all-time favorite Sarah Dessen novels, The Truth About Forever! Truth is such a gorgeous novel, and I love falling in love with Macy and forever YA boyfriend Wes as well as the rest of the Wish Catering crew. Keep scrolling to see some truly spectacular works of art plus enter to win the Sarah Dessen mega giveaway!

Rating: 4 stars

Release Date: May 11, 2004

Publisher: Viking Books

Genre: young adult contemporary romance

Status: standalone

Summary:

With her sixth novel, award-winning author Sarah Dessen offers up another generous helping of finely crafted storytelling about real teens dealing with real life.

In The Truth About Forever, when asked how she is coping with her father's death, invariably seventeen year old Macy Queen's answer is "fine," when nothing could be further from the truth. In actuality, she is drowning in grief while maintaining a flawless façade of good grades and unblemished behavior. Though she feels lost when her boyfriend heads to "Brain Camp" for the summer, she finds herself a job with the quirky Wish Catering crew, and meets "sa-woon"-worthy Wes, whose chaotic lifestyle is in direct opposition to her own. 

As the two share their stories over the summer, Macy realizes she can no longer keep her feelings on ice. Though it feels like her future ended with her dad's death, Macy's learns that forever is all about beginnings.

#ReadADessen campaign: Keeping the Moon review

Today I'm really excited to be part of the #ReadADessen campaign Penguin is putting on in honor of Sarah's 13th book, Once and For All! Each week, a group of bloggers are focusing on two Dessen titles in release order. This week my group is sharing the love for Dessen books 3 & 4: Keeping the Moon and Dreamland! Everyone has a different post topic so you'll find playlists, reviews, fancasts, and more at all the different stops. Be sure to check them all out and enter to win the grand prize: a full paperback set of all of Sarah's books! I posted the schedule below, but first: my review of Keeping the Moon + some fun picks for sunglasses collector extraordinaire Norman might have hiding away. Enjoy!

Rating: 3.5 stars

Release Date: September 1, 1999

Publisher: Viking Books

Genre: young adult contemporary romance

Format/Source: hardcover, from the library

Status: standalone

Summary:

While her mother, aerobics queen Kiki Sparks, spends the summer touring Europe, fifteen-year-old Colie Sparks is stuck in sleepy Colby, North Carolina. But she's not complaining. For one thing, her Aunt Mira is a sweet, laid-back eccentric; for another, no one knows that back home in Charlotte Colie is seen as a formerly-fat "golf-course slut," the school scapegoat. 

Then, by fate or by accident, Colie lands a waitressing job, where she meets Morgan and Isabel. The two wisecracking—and wise—20-something waitresses help her turn her life around, and realize the potential that has been there all along. 

Top Ten Tuesday #1: Beach Reads

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and The Bookish, and because of my love of lists, I realized I should probably join in! Each week the girls at B&B think up a fun theme, and participating bloggers post their favorite 10 books in that category. This week's theme is

Top Beach Reads

To me, the beach is the ultimate vacation from the world. I don't go to crowded beaches so the image of a beach connotates seclusion and relaxation. I love going on girls-only beach trips with my best friend and her family, and it's the penultimate getaway. We're all readers so when we go, we take about 10 books apiece!

Some of last year's selection, but some books had already been repacked and put in the car. 

Anyway, I *mostly* prefer light-hearted, usually summer-y contemporary reads for the beach.

 1. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray. This sassy novel is about, well, teenage beauty queens who are stuck on a deserted (they think) island. It's absolutely hilarious and totally a great read for a beach trip!

Rating: 5 stars

2. Jennifer Echols's entire ya collection, especially Endless Summer (The Boys Next Door + Endless Summer) and Forget You. Some of Echols's novels aren't set at the beach and some aren't set during summer, but there's something very summery- and beachy-feeling about them.
Rating: 4-5 stars depending on which one (most are 5)

3. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants quadrilogy by Ann Brashares. My original summer/beach read. You can't read these books and not be instantly transported to the beach, be it with Bridget in Mexico, Lena in Greece, or all four girls in Rehoboth. Sisterhood was one of my first ya reads ever and reading any of the four brings instant nostalgia and wanderlust...at least as far as that wanderlust points me in the direction of surf, sand, and sun.
Rating: 5 stars for 1-3, 3 stars for 4

4. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen. Any beach-read list is completely remiss without a Dessen novel. Ride is my second favorite of the bunch, and always makes me want to run off to the North Carolina beach (I lovelovelove the Outer Banks and Colby is totally just like any town in OBX).
Rating: 4 stars

5. The Mediator series by Meg Cabot. Not set during the summer, but New Yorker Suze Simon is transplanted to the shores of northern California. This is a paranormal series with lots of ghosts and hauntings and fake vampires and murder, but it's a great series. I love all of Meg's books, but Mediator is at the very top.
Rating: 5 stars

6. The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks. Okay, spare me the nonsense about how much you don't like Sparks because you think he's a sellout. Whatever. Like you didn't devour A Walk to Remember before hating Sparks became A Thing. I actually really love The Last Song and it's a perfect beach romance for me. The movie wasn't bad either. Miley didn't suck and HEL-LO Liam Hemsworth!
Rating: 4 stars

7. Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs. Requisite mermaid book. I love how sweet TLC's books are. They're innocent but still chock full o'romance. Her mermaids are lovely, and I dig the tail color thing.Here's to hoping for more novels set in the Fins 'verse because I don't think Fins Are Forever was an ending.
Rating: 3 1/2 stars

 8. Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz. This is a more serious beach read. While I'm not saying the other books included on this list lack substance, Invincible Summer and the three following have a bit more than most. Invincible takes place over four summers and shows how even though we all love the beach, sometimes it's also the worst place ever. Please don't let that scare you from reading it, though. I promise it's worth it!
Rating: 4 stars

9. My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick. There are actually only a couple scenes in this that are actually set at the beach, but this is a fantastic summer read. It definitely pulls the heartstrings, though!
Rating: 4 stars

10. Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler. I'm betting this book is on a lot of beach lists for TTT today. This is summery. It's beachy. It's beautiful. It's captivating. It's heartwrenchmeltbreakdestroyrestoring. Go and read it now if you have not yet.
Rating: 4 stars

ARC giveaway: The Moon and More

GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED

Check HERE for open giveaways

How much have you missed having a new Sarah Dessen book in your life? The good news is that the wait is almost over, and for one of you lucky readers, it'll be over even sooner because I'm giving away an arc of The Moon and More!

"Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.

Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo's sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.

Emaline's mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he's convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby?

Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going?"

Details: Runs from today until midnight Friday (EST). Open to US/Canada only. All entries will be verified!

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