How to Deal

Rating:
Summary: Things Are Going Wrong
Review: How to Deal realistic fiction book it. It tells the story of a modern fifteen year old girl who is struggling with family issues and social problems as well. She is barely able to even keep up with her " boyfriend". As if that wasn't enough, her best friend, who is fifteen also, is going to have a baby. The baby's father is dead now; he got in a horrible motorcycle accident. It seems like nothing is going right for this mellow girl.
Sarah Desson graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with Highest Honors in Creative Writing. She is also the author of Keeping the Moon, Dreamland, and This Lullaby, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year. She now lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is down and needs to see how good their life is. This girl's life sucks a lot. The overall book was a fun read and a good reading experience, so pick up this book and see where it takes you.

- Avery Askew

Rating:
Summary: How to Deal...
Review: Although How to Deal contains two novels about two different characters, both stories share the same themes such as family, friends, and trying to find oneself during a time of uncertainty. The first story follows Halley as she tries to support her best friend during a time of need, and deal with the new excitement (and confusion) of a first love. Most teens can relate to Halley's struggle as she feels more and more distant from her family and her constant anxiety over friends and her boyfriend, Macon. The first story is fast paced and touching, a story of about strength and the unity of friendship. The next story follows Haven, as her father (divorced from her mother) marries the weathergirl, Lorna Queen who he works with and the planning of her sister, Ashely's wedding. Haven's mind drifts to a time of a better summer, when she was closer to her sister, when her parents were together, when one of Ashley's boyfriends, Sumner, had brought the best out of all of them and made them a family. Haven is torn between all the changes taking place in her family as she tries to find where she belongs. This story moves slower than the first with more emphasis on character developement instead of action or suspense as found in the first.

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Summary: The best YA fiction has to offer? What's the worst?
Review: As an aspiring young writer who would love to see more books that deal with the problems teenagers face seriously, I was interested in How to Deal and the 2 books that inspired it. Unfortunately, in both respects I was left highly dissappointed.

Someone Like You, the book that the movie followed the closest, was more substantial, but also more irritating. Halley was fairly likable in the movie (although Mandy Moore may have had something to do with it), but I hated the book version. She constantly makes stupid decisions like smoking and cutting class to hang out with a guy who is basically a scumbag, then whines that her mother doesn't understand her. Hey moron, maybe your mom's just mad because you're acting like a retard. I never felt sorry for her because she pretty much deserved everything she got. I did like Halley and Scarlett's relationship, and I also preferred how Michael died in the book to the movie. (A motorcycle accident instead of dropping dead in the middle of the field. It's OH SO TRAGIC!!!) But the overdramatic ending where the whole class comes to the birth of Scarlett's baby was really stupid.

That Summer was at least more realistic. Too bad almost nothing happened. The movie How to Deal took the familial struggles from this book. Haven didn't make Halley's stupid decisions, but Dessen made a mistake almost exclusively centering the book around her because she does NOTHING until the climax. She basically gets caught up in what's around her and whines that things can't be better. The book would have also been better if it fleshed out the characters. I would have liked to have known more about Sumner. Also, despite the fact that her Dad's divorce is one of the big thorns in Haven's side, he almost never appears in the book.

I'm really pretty shocked that this stuff is what teenagers read. Pregnancy, divorce, and falling in love are all big issues for teenagers, who are already going through drastic life changes. Unfortunately, Dessen doesn't do anything new with the complex issues. It's the same old stuff. What a shame, because I would really love if someone tackled these subjects in the complex way they deserved.

Rating:
Summary: Two great novels in one
Review: For those of you looking for a great read, How To Deal is the perfect book. You will be getting two of Sarah Dessen's novels in one: Someone Like You and That Summer. The Movie How To Deal was made based on these two books. Both are wonderful reads for adolescent girls going through the pains and joys of growing up. In Someone Like You, best friends Halley and Scarlette struggle through Scarlette's pregnancy and together strive through the loss of a close friend. This book shows the blessings of a best friend, and how important it is to have someone to care about. In That Summer, Haven struggles through the pains of family life and first loves. It teaches the importance of family sticking together, and how wonderful and painful first loves can be. Both books are excellent novels and guides that every teenage girl will be able to relate to.

Rating:
Summary: How to Deal by Sarah Dessen
Review: How to Deal by Sarah Dessen is two fabulous books put into one for the movie that comes out on July 18th 2003! I am soo excited about the movie coming out! I have read all of Sarah Dessen's work and all of it is fabulous she is a great and excellent writer she has taught me life lessons that will help me in the future Someone Like You is my favorite! Check these books and other Sarah Dessen Novels out and i am sure u will love them as do i!

Rating:
Summary: How To Deal
Review: How to Deal is a book with two novels by Sarah Dessen in them which were combound to make a movie. The stories are divided in this book instead of combinded like the movie. I'll review each story seperatly

Someone Like You was my favorite of the two novels, it talks about Halley and he crazy life. She used to be quiet and well behaved, but then her best friend Scarlett became pregnant and the father of the baby is killed. Halley helps Scarlett through her pregnancy while dating Macon, the mysterious and wild boy who was Michael(the baby's father)'s best friend. Soon Halley's world turns upside down with Macon's wild spirit, Scarlett's grief and baby and how she distances herself from her mother. This story is about true life and love, and how Halley deals with it. I found myself smiling through my tears in the end, and it is one of my favorite "true-life" stories of all time.

That Summer: Haven is an awkward fifteen year old, who finds her world turned upside-down this summer. What with her father having an affair, her moody sister getting married to a man like a saltine cracker and her mother's saddness and obsessive gardening, Haven feels lost in the shuffle. She is angry with her crazy family, her new Bad Girl best friend and her life in general. She keeps remembering how wonderful that summer was when her sister was dating Sumner Lee, the happy and perfect boy who seemed to pull her family together. But after they broke-up, it was then that Haven's world unraveled. It sound like it would be an awesome book, but the characters were not developed well and the ending seemed unfinished. The message in the story was a good one though, about how the first boy always hurts the most.

I had to give this book four stars because of the story That Summer, but this is worth owning. I think that the movie will be a little bit overdone though, when you combine Halley and Haven together for one story. That many events at one time don't often happen in real life. But two seperate films would have been great. Someone Like You is amazing and That Summer is worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Great read!`
Review: I just bought it, assuming it was the book that How to Deal was based on. I was so surprised when I realized that it was two books in one! I was ecstatic to read both stories, Someone Like You and The Summer. They are fantastic reads about girls growing up and dealing with their issues and problematic lifestyles.

Rating:
Summary: What a good book!!!
Review: I took this book out of the public library a month ago for a bit of light reading. I had heard through some people at school that Mandy Moore was doing a movie called How to Deal, so when I saw the book I had to pick it up! I thought that the first section was better than the second section, becuase it delt more with sad teen issues rather than just divorce issues. I no sooner finished reading the novel, and then I ran out to my local "Chapers" book store, and bought 3 copies- one for me, and the other ones for two of my friends! It is a good book and I would recomend it to anybody who likes sweet sentimental books that deal with teen issues!!!

Rating:
Summary: great book, but READ THIS BEFORE ORDERING
Review: just a warning: i ordered this book thinking that it was a new book by sarah dessen. sadly, i got it today, and it is really just two of her other books, Someone Like You and That Summer, put into one book. The reason for the different title is because they have combined these two books into one movie called How to Deal, starring Mandy Moore. I have read both novels seperately, and they are great, especially someone like you, so if you haven't read them, this book would be a good thing for you to purchase.

Rating:
Summary: so mad
Review: okay. i went to the movies to see this, but it was sold out. So then i figure i can just go buy the book and be happy right? Wrong!The movie is based on two books by Sarah Dessen. They're actually good books, especially someone like you, but i have read and own both. I wish the cover had just said two books the movie is based on, instead of having How to Deal really big on the cover. Despite how goood the books are, i had to take astar off for the false advertising.