Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

After the many instances of my picking up a copy of a Sarah Dessen book while browsing the shelves of a bookstore or library, I finally read one. Just Listen is about the youngest sister of three, Annabel, who can't seem to find her way in the world after her fairly (well, very) nasty "best friend" Sophie ditches her and she falls into aloneness. Then she meets Owen, a music-obsessed, dark-haired boy she eats lunch in close proximity to. Through the course of the book, Annabel slowly--very slowly--deals with what happened to her the night her so-called friendship with Sophie fell apart.

Just Listen was, for me, one of those books I enjoy while reading, then kind of forget. The book reminds me a bit of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (which is a bit ironic--Just Listen and Speak), though it's not nearly as good. However, the book accomplishes what I felt it set out to do: it accurately depicts the interrelationships of a slightly dysfunctional family, examined different meanings of teenage friendship, and dealt with the value and difficulty of telling the truth.

All in all, Just Listen did not, as my mother says, "make my socks roll up and down"; but it tole its story well, and in the end, that's what matters most.