Rating: 
Summary: fast reading
Review: I read Keeping the Moon, by Sarah Dessen. The main character, Colie, is the daughter of Katharine Sparks. Or Kiki Sparks, when people started to recognizing her when she was trying to loose weight. Colie was also over weight and was always called names at school and in public. Colie spent a summer with her aunt in Colby, North Carolina, when her mom was on tour. She thought it would be the worst summer of her life. She had no friends at home so why should she find some here. Although she isn't over weight anymore people see her as many different things. On her vacation she notice that her aunt has a problem too. The man who lives with her aunt lets Colie have a job when she is visiting. When she was working she met two girls, Morgan and Isabel. Theses girls are best friends and want to show Colie what her life is about. Colie goes through many things in Colby. The whole summer was adventures to her. I liked this book a lot. There were many things that people could relate to. How you could make friends, and also how you could see the person inside of you, so you know what you are made of. This book kept my enjoyment from the beginning to the end. I think anyone would enjoy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Keeping the Moon: A Worth While Read!
Review: Can you imagine coming into a new town and knowing you will have to spend the entire summer there, without the security of knowing anyone, with the exception of your aunt who you can hardly recollect? Colie, a teenage girl, is thrown into this position by her mother, Kiki Sparks. Kiki is a weight loss guru who is going on tour all over Europe for he summer, without Colie, to show people what to eat and what to do-a weight loss success story that took both Kiki and Colie down many pounds and took them out of what they refer to as their "fat years".
Once in Colby, North Carolina, Colie finds amazing growth as a person when she meets two new friends, Morgan and Isabel. They help her grow from a caterpillar into a butterfly (as Kiki Sparks would say).
Sarah Dessen has created a light novel entertaining only for girls. Colie's growth as a person is sometimes a little bit cheesy and predictable but the relationships formed in this book and the writing style of Dessen makes this book well worth the read. If you are in the mood for a quick, cheerful read that will pass the time away, Keeping the Moon is just the book for you!
Rating: 
Summary: Damn, This Was Good
Review: This book had a realy nice light-hearted feeling to it. It was written so realisticly (well, except for the part where Colie's mom is an international super-star). I bet you are tired of reading those sad, depressing, "downward spiral" teenage books. You might think that this book is one of those, being that the main character used to be fat and teased a lot. But it's not. It's actually a great pick-me-up. So read it for god's sake!
Rating:
Summary: Dessen lover
Review: I absolutely love Sarah Dessen! Her books are amazing, and really get the point of view of a teenage girl across. This was the last of the 5 of her books that I've read, and I loved it! The main character is a fifteen year old girl named Colie. After loosing 45 and a half pounds on her "recently-slim" mom's new diet plan, Colie finds herself in Colby, North Carolina. There, she is supposed to spend the summer with her Aunt Mira. Colie expects the worst but ends up finding out who she really is, and that even she has the ability to be special. Through the unexpected friendship with Isabel and Morgan, Colie learns that there's more to her than the "used-to-be-fat" and rumored "easy" girl that she has come to be recognized as, as well as the companionship of Norman, artist extrordinar and collector of everything! I sincerely recomned this book to anyone who's ever had or has self-esteem issues, a fan of Dessen, or any girl that wants something to do on a rainy day!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: Keeping the Moon, by Sarah Dessen, is one of the best books I have ever read. It tells the story of Colie Sparks, a fifteen year old "former fat girl" who is the daughter of world-famous Kiki Sparks, a fitness trainer and weight-loss inspirationist. Keeping the Moon chronicles a summer in Colie's life- the summer that Colie spends in Colby, North Carolina with her eccentric Aunt Mira. Along the way, Colie meets characters like Morgan and Isabel, two twenty-something waitresses who befriend her and help her through the summer, and Norman, the cook and art student who lives downstairs.But Keeping the Moon is more than just the ordinary chronicle of a teenage summer. It's not all fluffy and romantic. It's inspirational. During the summer, the character of Colie completely changes and matures. It tells of her becoming beautiful, of her understanding Mira, Norman, Isabel, Morgan, and herself. I absolutely loved this book, and it's reccommended to everyone!
Rating:
Summary: Self-Confidence and The Art of Being Skinny
Review: Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen tells the story of Colie Sparks' summer vacation in a sleepy North Carolina town. It is a classic coming of age story that is set in modern times. Colie used to be the fat girl everyone made fun of. Colie starts the story with telling about her energetic mom, Kiki. Kiki also used to be fat, but lost the weight and became a queen of the aerobic world. When Kiki lost the weight Colie was forced to lose weight right along with her. But losing the weight did not make Colie forget the taunting and abusive remarks from the girls at her many different schools. Losing the weight also did not let the popular girls at school forget Colie, even when she was skinny. As Colie's self-confidence grew smaller and smaller the shell she kept herself in grew undeniably bigger. This book goes way beyond the surface of just living outside the "popular" crowd. It delves deep into the heart of the girls who are mercilessly made fun of for just being alive. The main story line of Colie's confidence is surrounded by other story lines that intertwine together making this book a must read for any girl struggling with self-confidence. Any one who has looked in the mirror and hated what looked back at them should read this book. The pain of not being liked is hard, but the struggle of trying not to care can be even harder as Colie demonstrates in this pivotal novel. So many teenagers today try to hide their real selves, so they can be who others want them to be. Magazines and popular movies tell what the norm should be, and girls (and guys) do anything to be like the norm. Anorexia and Bulimia are two prime examples of the horrible pain people put themselves through to be "beautiful." People sometimes think that being beautiful just means being skinny. For a long time I always thought that if only I could be skinny then everyone would like me, but I'm finding this is not true. I realized from this book that being skinny does not equal beauty. Beauty equals self-confidence and radiance shining from within the person. Beauty is not just the outward appearance, but it is what most people notice first. When Colie lost her weight the "popular" girls at school did not stop making fun of her. They stopped making fun of her for being overweight, but they eventually found something else to make fun of her. The girls making fun of Colie had to find some way to make them feel better about themselves. A lot of times people do not realize that verbal abuse is a sign of the abuser lacking self-confidence. When the abuser lashes out with verbal assaults they can actually feel better about themselves. The abuser tells themselves wonderful words of praise that they could never be as ugly, stupid, fat, whatever is may be as the abused. Colie was saved from her own personal hell when the summer came and she was sent to her aunt in North Carolina. Colie's aunt alone can be a role model for anyone who has doubted their abilities and tried to hide their true selves. Every character in this novel plays an intricate part, and when they are all woven together it is beautiful. The front cover of the book has a picture of a butterfly. The butterfly is a symbol of Colie. She is a caterpillar in the beginning of her life just trying to find her way in life. She continues her life in her shell of fat, and when her fat is gone she doesn't know where to turn. Her summer with her aunt is her cocoon. In the end...well...read the book to find out! There is an extremely pivotal scene in which Colie takes her sunglasses off and really sees herself for the first time. She looks and wonders who the person looking back is. When she finally sees herself and realizes what she is worth, then her self-confidence can start growing. Then comes the task of finally showing down her abusers, who unwittingly show their heads in the North Carolina town. Some people are not as lucky as Colie to find people to help her find herself. Some people can not stand their personal hells and they end it all. They take their own lives. They ask themselves why should they care when no one else cares for them. I think that some people are drowning so deep in their own self-pity that they could not see love even if it hit them in the face. Luckily, Colie is not in this deep and she can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Sarah Dessen is able to take a deep subject and make it beautiful in the character of Colie Sparks. Sarah Dessen uses humor and imagery to get her point across. I found myself laughing out loud at many points in this book. Sarah Dessen's descriptions of the characters and the scenes are nothing less than wonderful. She tells just enough to get the imagination going, while she does not tell too much to smother the mind. I found each and every character coming alive for me. Even the aunt's cat had a cute personality. I could actually feel what each character felt and could understand their actions. Through this book I have realized a lot about my own self-confidence. Sometimes I think I am struggling with a problem all alone, but this book lets me know that I am not alone.
Rating:
Summary: A must read
Review: Colie is a former fat girl that doesn't quite feel good in her skin yet. During this summer she is sent to Colby to stay with her crazy aunt Mira, while her mother's tours Europe. There she lands a job at the Last Chance, be friends with twenty something waitress Morgan and eventually with Morgan's Best Friend Isabel. In this new enviroment, she finally starts to let go of her past and the demons that taunt her at home. Aunt Mira is just great. And Norman will make you let out a sigh or two.
Rating: 
Summary: average
Review: this is a really light-hearted book..which finds simple solutions for tough issues..i felt that it tended to gloss over the darker stuff....however, while simplistic, this IS an entertaining bk. and its not entirely stupid. i did learn something from it. its slightly better than the average teen novel, but its far from brilliant. somewhere along the lines of princess diaries i would say.
Rating:
Summary: dont know wut 2 call it
Review: it was definitly one of my top 10 favorites. sarah dessen is the BEST!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: I'm Throwing Away the Moon
Review: Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen had the potential to be a great book. The characters were creative and there was a good setting, but the plot was not very original. There are a million books with the same plot; "Former overweight girl with low esteem learns to love herself." It's so worn out. I picked this book up thinking it would be better than that. Unfortunately, it wasn't.
It starts out where Colie Sparks proclaims that her summer is going to be horrible because she is being sent to stay with her aunt Mira while her mom tours Europe. When Colie gets to her aunt's house, she finds index cards next to everything saying things like, "RIGHT FAUCET DRIPS. TIGHTEN WITH WRENCH AFTER USING." Colie feels like she's in Oz, except with no one to help her find her way.
That is, until she meets Isabelle and Morgan at the Last Chance Grill. They're waitresses there, and they hire Colie as well. Now she has friends, but her summer still looks like it's going to be horrible.
I guess the main reason I didn't like this book was because it contained too much drama. It was also too predictable. This book might've been decent, but the author had to go and write the ending the same way many young adult novels end...with an overly romantic happy ending. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, with the exception of those individuals who enjoy books with the same, worn out plot.
|
