Just Listen

I am only half way through this book, but so far it's pretty good. This book is told by Anabel's point of view, who is around 17 years old. Anabel has a rough time at school, especially because of her previous friend Sophie. Sophie is the most popular girl in school who is very mean to everyone. This is why Anabel decides not to be friends with her anymore. After the fall-out with Sophie, Anabel doesn't have many friends and she's also having a hard time at home. Her sister, Whitney, is severely ill with anorexia and almost dies during the book. Anabel's parents are always focused on Whitney after the incident, so Anabel doesn't get much attention around the house. It is when she meets Owen Armstrong that her life starts to change and get better. Together, they learn many things, especially the value of friendship and how they can learn different things from each other, since they are such different people and like different things.

The author, Sarah Dessen, really describes each character in detail. She shows Owen and Anabel's personalities very well, as well as revealing the conflict that the characters must go through at the very beginning of the book. She also describes Whitney's personalities and how its hard to live with someone who has to be watched over all the time, even though she's in high school. I like this book also because there are many different conflicts in Anabel's life, so it definitely keeps you reading.

This book is very good so far and I recommend it to anyone looking for a good, realistic fiction book to read.