The Moon and More

Starred review from April 8, 2013
Emaline has grown up happily in the quiet beach town of Colby, N.C. (a setting that will be familiar to Dessen’s many fans), where she lives with her mother, stepfather, and stepsisters. She’s been dating a handsome local boy, Luke, for four years; they both work for her grandmother’s property rental company and plan to attend East U in the fall. Then Emaline’s quasi-estranged birth father and her 10-year-old half-brother, Benji, show up, as does another out-of-towner—an ambitious and romantic filmmaker’s intern named Theo—upending Emaline’s life and aspirations. Family, self-discovery, and change have always been key themes in Dessen’s (What Happened to Goodbye) work, and they take center stage. Even though Emaline has two boys falling in and out of love with her, what’s most at stake for her is figuring out what she wants for her future and deciding who to prioritize within her highly populated and very busy life. Dessen is as skilled as ever at turning out steady, satisfying stories about teens that are easy to fall for. Ages 12–up. Agent: Leigh Feldman, Writers House.

May 15, 2013
A high school graduate realizes that having a near-perfect life means not always having the best of everything. It's Emaline's last summer in her hometown of Colby, a seaside tourist mecca where nothing ever changes. But there're big changes in store for Emaline, and what starts out as a happily predictable summer turns into one of emotional twists and turns. Accepted at Columbia, her dream school, Emaline must instead settle for the lesser, local college when her chronically absent father reneges on his offer to pay. Then her perfect, steady boyfriend suddenly begins behaving imperfectly. Another curveball comes in the form of Emaline's burgeoning relationship with Theo, a sophisticated, go-getting film student from NYU who comes to Colby to shoot a documentary and who urges Emaline to aim for greatness. But she is torn, weighing the comfort of her family and the familiarity of small-town life against her belief that her potential rests only in bigger, better things. In the end, Emaline's plans seem almost as surprising to her as they might be to readers. Dessen's characters behave as deliciously unpredictably as people do in real life, and just as in real life, they sometimes have to make difficult choices with not-so-predictable outcomes. Luckily for her readers, it also makes for good fiction. Completely engaging, infused with moments of sweetness, humor and major epiphanies. (Fiction. 12 & up)

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July 1, 2013

Gr 9 Up-Dessen aims for the Moon with her latest novel and manages the landing quite wonderfully. Readers looking for a story as warm and real as The Truth About Forever (Viking, 2004) need look no further. Emaline works hard, both in school and at her family's realty office with three generations of women handling beach-vacation rentals in the small southern town of Colby. Her efforts get her accepted to Columbia, but when her birth father, back in her life after being absent for 10 years, suddenly and inexplicably withdraws his offer of substantial help, she has to settle for a less-prestigious school just two hours away. One advantage: her boyfriend, Luke, will also be there. Summer starts off normally: her dad, the one who married her teenaged mother and adopted Emaline years ago, is still fixing up their house; her older stepsister is bossing her around at work; and Em is passing out keys and towels and hanging around with her best friends, Daisy and Morris. Characters are crafted with care to be whole and realistic, so readers will be immersed when Emaline meets the New Yorkers who rent a mansion for the summer to make a documentary about local character Clyde, once quite a big deal on the art scene. Theo, the filmmaker's cute assistant, seems smitten with Emaline; and when Luke indulges in clubbing with a pretty tourist, the dream couple breaks up, enabling Emaline to spend some time with someone new. Complications romantic and familial help crystallize the strength in Emaline as her understanding transitions from youth to adulthood.-Suzanne Gordon, Lanier High School, Sugar Hill, GA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2013
Grades 8-12 Emaline is on that precipice familiar to most new high-school grads: knowing where you come from, anticipating where you're heading, and struggling to reconcile the two. She's a lifer in the small beach town of Colby (the setting of two of Dessen's previous novels), comfortable with her longtime boyfriend, Luke, her chaotic blended family, and a job at Colby Realty. But when NYU student Theo and his boss arrive to film a documentary about reclusive local artist Clyde Conawayand Emaline's biological father and half brother come to townsummer takes unexpected twists. On the same day that it's over with Luke, Emaline kisses Theo; but is he just a summer fling, or could he be something more? Dessen returns to familiar crowd-pleasing territory here, offering up perfect beach weather, plenty of romance, and a capable protagonist coming to terms with change. As always, she explores YA-relatable themes, from divorce to absentee parents, in nuanced and thought-provoking ways ( You think it's all obvious and straightforward, this world. But really, it's all in who's doing the looking ). Fans will be waiting; after all, it's not summer without Dessen. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: A national author tour and major media campaign ensure that this is as well received as Dessen's previous best-selling titles.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)