Back When You Were Easier to Love

April 18, 2011
Joy can't accept that her boyfriend, Zan, has gone to California (where she is from originally) and left her to fend for herself in boring Haven, Utah. She blames her goody-two-shoes Mormon peers for driving him away, even though both she and Zan are Mormon, too. Lurking beneath Joy's sadness and anger at everyone around her (especially Noah, Zan's "Golden Boy" best friend who won't leave her alone) Joy suspects that maybe it wasn't everybody else that drove Zan awayâmaybe it was her. Joy's story unfolds in short, essaylike vignettes that fill in her personal history, while leaving certain aspects of her life (like her relationship with her parents and the circumstances of their move to Haven) largely unexamined. But Smith (The Way He Lived) effectively reconstructs Zan and Joy's relationship, building tension toward the moment when Joy ultimately faces him again. Despite her vulnerability, Joy's voice is sturdy, and her articulations about loss and belief are thoughtful and often moving. Self-acceptance and both the comforts and restrictions of the Mormon religion and identity are central themes in this sweet story. Ages 12âup.

March 1, 2011
Joy's world revolves around Zan, who is gone and whom she can't let go. Having moved to a small, utterly Mormon Utah town from Southern California, Joy found a connection with Zan, short for Alexander, that made the transition bearable. Now Zan is gone, and his best friend Noah, who had promised to keep an eye on her, is bugging her to snap out of it. Joy decides that a road trip to the college campus where Zan is a freshman will help her achieve closure and peace of mind. Only Noah is willing to accompany her—take her, actually, in his vintage SAAB 900. The romantic conclusion is safely assured. The faith that is shared by almost all the characters mingles into the narrative in an unusual and kind of quirky way. The church is never the focus, just a natural part of the environment, making it a refreshing element in an otherwise shopworn plot. Annoying as Joy is at first with her obsession with Zan, it soon becomes clear that she is an unreliable narrator, which adds intrigue. Short, present-tense chapters with some lists and almost poetic interludes interspersed keep the pages turning relatively painlessly. Light, clean and completely predictable, this charming romance has a decidedly old-fashioned feel. (Fiction. YA)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

July 1, 2011

Gr 8 Up-It's the beginning of the school year, and Joy's boyfriend, Zan, has graduated early and abruptly gone to a California college without leaving her his contact information. Befuddled and still obsessed with him, she enlists the help of his friend Noah to help find her lost love and put some closure to the relationship. After a road trip to California, which concludes with an exciting zinger and a new romance, Joy gains insight into herself and learns important lessons about judging people at face value. Set in a fictional Mormon community in Utah, this is a tame romance heavily peppered with religious values; e.g., kissing is forbidden in this town. Joy's first-person narrative features flashbacks showing that the relationship was based on the couple's view of themselves as nonconformists in a town of the faithful. Joy's character is particularly well drawn-the author gives readers the perfect image of a girl who can think of nothing but her boyfriend to the detriment of her other relationships. The story moves quickly and will resonate with religious teens, those who relish the idea of being outsiders, and, for that matter, any fan of romance.-Shawna Sherman, Hayward Public Library, CA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2011
Grades 7-10 Without a good-bye, Joys boyfriend, Zan, took off for college a year early, leaving Joy behind in their small, Mormon community in Utah. After weeks of mourning, Joy, searching for closure, drives to California with Zans best friend to visit him. Readers will immediately recognize the shopworn story line of shifting affections as Joy slowly realizes that Zan isnt the platonic ideal of dreaminess shed thought he was. Smith brings freshness to this satisfying romance with wit, intelligent characters, lists, and other inventive narrative additions as well as a view of chaste, observant Mormon teens rarely seen in mainstream teen literature.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)