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Rating: 
Summary: A Day in the Life
Review: Told in a series of diary entries, ALMOST 18 is a short but interesting look into the innermost thoughts of a seventeen year-old girl named Juliet Lee. Juliet is beginning her senior year in high school and from the start it is a year wrought with many ups and downs, big changes and even bigger choices. As the school year begins, she is placed in a more advanced track of classes and has to adjust to a more demanding workload while making plans for college. To make matters worse, because of her new classes, she is separated from her friends and forced to become a part of a new peer group. On the home front, Juliet is still coping with the death of her father and forced to confront the reality of her mother's mortality as her mom copes with an illness that the two of them have failed to discuss in any detail. On top of all that, she is dealing with romantic feelings that she doesn't quite understand and learning to cope with both the attention of and rejection from other boys. With rather mature themes, this book may be inappropriate for some young readers because it deals with such topics as sex, abortion, and substance abuse. However, more mature young readers are sure to embrace this book for it's earthy feel and it's sense of "realness." Adults, especially parents, may also enjoy this read because it truly provides a window into the minds of young teens and captures the essence of their thoughts and feelings. The author does an excellent job developing the sense of teen angst that is not uncommon for girls at this age of transition and helping readers understand it. Telling a story through a series of diary entries is not an easy task, but the author pulled it off seamlessly and effectively. I recommend this book and look forward to future work from this author.
Reviewed by Stacey Seay....
Rating:
Summary: A Day in the Life
Review: Told in a series of diary entries, ALMOST 18 is a short but interesting look into the innermost thoughts of a seventeen year-old girl named Juliet Lee. Juliet is beginning her senior year in high school and from the start it is a year wrought with many ups and downs, big changes and even bigger choices. As the school year begins, she is placed in a more advanced track of classes and has to adjust to a more demanding workload while making plans for college. To make matters worse, because of her new classes, she is separated from her friends and forced to become a part of a new peer group. On the home front, Juliet is still coping with the death of her father and forced to confront the reality of her mother's mortality as her mom copes with an illness that the two of them have failed to discuss in any detail. On top of all that, she is dealing with romantic feelings that she doesn't quite understand and learning to cope with both the attention of and rejection from other boys. With rather mature themes, this book may be inappropriate for some young readers because it deals with such topics as sex, abortion, and substance abuse. However, more mature young readers are sure to embrace this book for it's earthy feel and it's sense of "realness." Adults, especially parents, may also enjoy this read because it truly provides a window into the minds of young teens and captures the essence of their thoughts and feelings. The author does an excellent job developing the sense of teen angst that is not uncommon for girls at this age of transition and helping readers understand it. Telling a story through a series of diary entries is not an easy task, but the author pulled it off seamlessly and effectively. I recommend this book and look forward to future work from this author.
Reviewed by Stacey Seay....
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