Love, Lucy

February 23, 2015
Just before heading to college, Lucy and Charlene are on the European summer tour of a lifetime, and while in Italy, Lucy meets a free-spirited American named Jesse. Despite their short-lived possibilities for romance, Lucy falls hard and returns home to Philadelphia pining for him. Just when Lucy begins dating someone else, Jesse shows up at her school, and complicated decisions arise for her. Again turning to classic literature for inspiration as she did in Jane and Catherine (this time, E.M. Forster's A Room with a View), Lindner writes in a straightforward third-person storytelling style that allows distance for readers to observe Lucy coming into her own. Like her forebear, Forster's Lucy Honeychurch, this Lucy must sort through the muddle of her emotionsâtorn between a cerebral, respectable boy and a more passionate oneâand learn to stand on her own convictions. The parallels to A Room With a View contribute to an overarching theme seen in both stories: rising above the social strictures placed on a spirited girl bound by propriety. Ages 15âup. Agent: Amy Williams, McCormick & Williams Literary Agency.

November 1, 2014
A European summer flirtation blossoms into something more in this romance set in Italy and Pennsylvania. While on a high school graduation trip to Florence, aspiring actress Lucy meets Jesse, a wandering minstrel of a boy originally from New Jersey who busks for room and board. During the last days of her vacation, they share a hotel room, and tensions arise when Lucy chooses to spend time with Jesse over her traveling companion, Charlene. When it's time for Lucy to go home, she and Jesse reluctantly part, and Lucy is convinced she will never see Jesse again. Fast-forward to her freshman year at a Philadelphia college. Lucy lands a lead role in Rent, even though her controlling father has forbidden her to keep acting. She has a gorgeous new boyfriend named Shane but can't stop thinking about Jesse. When Jesse shows up unexpectedly on campus, Lucy must decide between rebelling against her father and following her dreams with Jesse or sticking with her business major and playing it safe with Shane. This novel is ideal fodder for romance traditionalists, checking off every genre trope with the regularity of a metronome in solid if unremarkable prose. And Lindner does a good job of describing how uncomfortable travel can become when friends no longer get along. But readers looking for a more juicily written romance travelogue that teases and surprises at every turn may prefer Gayle Forman's Just One Day (2013) and Just One Year (2013). A satisfying if predictable crowd pleaser. (Fiction. 13-17)

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October 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-In exchange for enrolling as a business major for her first year in college, Lucy Sommersworth is treated to a summer backpacking trip across Europe. There, Lucy meets Jesse Palladino, an enticing musician who is living his dream as a traveler, not tied down to anything or anyone. Jesse and Lucy quickly become entangled in a vacation romance, but before long, Lucy has to go back home to start college, while Jesse stays in Italy. Will Lucy stay in contact with Jesse? Will she ever see him again? Or will she be able to move on and find a dream boyfriend at college? Lucy faces dilemmas and challenges that most young people can relate to: fighting with friends, standing up to parents, breaking up, and balancing obligations and desires. While still a teenager dealing with typical problems, Lucy is also growing up fast and learning how to be an adult. This means struggling with very hard decisions that could make or tear apart friendships, relationships, and family. A contemporary romance with surprising depth in its coming-of-age elements, this modern update of E. M. Forster's A Room with a View will appeal to fans of Sarah Dessen, Stephanie Perkins, and Lindner's reimagined classics. It would also work well in high school literature classes studying Forster's novel.-Eden Rassette, Kenton County Public Library, KY

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2014
Grades 9-12 Lucy loves acting onstage. She truly becomes her characters, sharing the magic with the audience and basking in their applause. But Lucy's father informs her that her theatrical aspirations will end with high school; he won't waste an expensive college on playacting. So they strike a deal: Lucy and a friend will go on an all-expenses-paid trip to Europe, and when Lucy returns, she'll study business in college. The European trip is a wonderful dream. Lucy meets someone special, an American musician named Jesse. Jesse even gets Lucy to come onstage and sing with him, reminding her of the future she has promised away. Once Lucy returns to the U.S. and starts college, the impossibility of the choice she has made, combined with her determination to move on from her romance with Jesse, makes life unbearable. This intelligent love story will resonate with readers who are themselves balancing the thin line between making lives of their own and seeking parents' approval. A good read-alike recommendation for fans of Jennifer E. Smith or Stephanie Perkins.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)