Summary:
Sophomore year broke Clementine Williams’
heart. She fell for her best friend’s boyfriend and long story short: he’s
excused, but Clem is vilified and she heads into summer with zero social life.
Enter her parents’ plan to spend the summer on their sailboat. Normally the idea
of being stuck on a tiny boat with her parents and little sister would make Clem
break out in hives, but floating away sounds pretty good right now. Then she
meets James at one of their first stops along the river. He and his dad are
sailing for the summer and he’s just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break
down Clem’s walls and heal her broken heart? Told in alternating chapters that
chronicle the year that broke Clem’s heart and the summer that healed it, Unbreak My Heart is a wonderful dual love
story that fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Susane Colasanti will flock
to.
Particulars of the
Book:
Published by:
Bloomsbury
Pages: 231
Genre: YA
Fiction
Author: Melissa
Walker's website: http://www.melissacwalker.com
About
Melissa!
First of all, isn't
she darling?! She's so awesome!
Secondly, look at
this resume!
Melissa
Walker is a writer who has worked as ELLEgirl Features Editor and
Seventeen Prom Editor. All in the name of journalism, she has spent 24 hours
with male models and attended
an elite finishing school for girls in New Zealand, among other
hardships.
She co-founded I Heart
Daily with fellow ex-ELLEgirl Anne Ichikawa in 2009. It’s a daily newsletter
about likable stuff.Melissa lives in Brooklyn and has a BA in English from Vassar College. She would tell you her SAT scores too, but, you know, the math part was hard. She loves meeting teenagers, and is game to speak at your library or school about writing, books, fashion, magazines or pop culture (but, you know, in a smart way). Get in touch to discuss.
Violet on the Runway, Violet by Design and Violet in Private (Penguin), are the books in a trilogy about a small-town girl who is scouted to become a model and finds herself in the middle of the crazy fashion world. Lovestruck Summer (HarperTeen) is a beach read full of indie rock and cowboys. Small Town Sinners (Bloomsbury) is the story of a girl who wants to star in her Evangelical community’s Hell House production.
The Dame's Take :
This is a book about friendship, first love, real love and a summer that brought all those relationships into perspective. It's a " summer love" book with a twist. We see, from the perspective of the main character, Clem, her story of a troubled infatuation with her best friend's boyfriend; and, at the same time, we get to spy on her as she comes to know and develop a healing and loving relationship with a new boy throughout the summer.
The success in this novel comes from the fact that it's not a sappy rendering of the sort it could have been given the somewhat well-travelled story of summer love. The reason for that lies in the very capable hands of Melissa Walker, who gives the book a resonance, and a solid bank of truth to anchor it. I found this little book well worth the read, and a great book to recommend to YAs for the summer.
Without giving away all the particulars, I want to talk about the name of Clem's parent's sail boat, The Possibility, and how this really is the primary focus or key to Walker's story. It is this "possibility" of change; of being taken away from her town and the source of her heartbreak, the possibility of meeting someone new, the possibility of helping others and the possibility of growing in understanding of herself and others, that is the heart of this wonderful novel. This is a girl's coming of age novel, full of wisdom and full of winds of change. It's because of the experiences; the "possibilities" afforded her during the summer that Clem comes to understand what really matters in life and love.
Melissa Walker is a fine writer who has a good deal to say to young adults experiencing complicated relationships. If my daughter were still a teen ager, I would absolutely purchase this book for her for summer reading. It's a treasure of wisdom in a story that's contemporary and hip. While I wouldn't recommend it for older YAs, particularly, I do think children 12-17 would really enjoy and benefit from the story. It's great to read a book that is meant for ordinary, normal teens, too!
Ms Walker writes beautifully, however, this is not particularly a cross over novel. I couldn't recommend it for that. I'm giving the book a
3.5 rating with a strong nod for YA fiction
Deborah/TheBookishDame
GIVEAWAY!!!!!!
The Author is
giving away a copy of
"Unbreak My Heart
!!!"
To win,
please:
Follow me on
Twitter and Connect with me on the side bar on Google Friends
Connect....
Then, leave your
email so I can contact you if you win.
US entrants only,
please.
Giveaway ends May
31st !!! :]
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