According to her
guidance counselor, fifteen-year-old Payton Gritas needs a focus
object-an item to concentrate her emotions on. It's supposed to be
something inanimate, but Payton decides to use the thing she stares at
during class: Sean Griswold's head. They've been linked since third
grade (Griswold-Gritas-it's an alphabetical order thing), but she's
never really known him.
The focus object is intended to help Payton deal with her father's newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis. And it's working. With the help of her boy-crazy best friend Jac, Payton starts stalking-er, focusing on-Sean Griswold . . . all of him! He's cute, he shares her Seinfeld obsession (nobody else gets it!) and he may have a secret or two of his own.
The focus object is intended to help Payton deal with her father's newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis. And it's working. With the help of her boy-crazy best friend Jac, Payton starts stalking-er, focusing on-Sean Griswold . . . all of him! He's cute, he shares her Seinfeld obsession (nobody else gets it!) and he may have a secret or two of his own.
My Thoughts:
Loved this book. So. Much.
Payton was hilarious. Her OCD-like tendencies, her quirkiness, her method of coping, her way of rebelling. Just hilarious. But she was completely relate-able and likable. My favorite thing about her (and I guess about this author) was that Payton never over-explained anything. She would feel "something" but didn't want to put her finger on it to figure out what that something was. Payton didn't indulge in touchy-feely monologues delving into the depths of her emotions. Neither, for that matter, did any other characters. Loved that.
It was pretty entertaining that Payton chose to focus on Sean's head in order to help herself cope with her father being diagnosed with MS. Hilarious, even. I mean, the stuff she wrote in her journal was so funny I laughed aloud a few times. And I liked the way Sean's character was revealed. We got to know him slowly, like a normal person. And it was nice. Although Sean was a little too perfect. He was calm and focused, kind and generous, funny and cute. And he always said the right things. So, you know, that's nice in a piece of cute little fiction, but it's a bit too perfect. You know?
Ok, so what did I love about his book?
1) Humor. That's always my number one. I like funny things. And this book was that. In the cutest way.
2) Realness. Dialogue felt genuine, characters reacted in normal ways, everything that happened felt like it could have actually happened. Win all around.
3) Characters. Pretty much every character in this book was well-rounded. I mean, Leavitt even managed to round out a character who only got one chapter and was only really there to flirt with Payton's best friend.
4) Heart. There's so much depth of feeling in this book. I mean, I wasn't crying while reading or anything but I felt sadness, loneliness, happiness, giddiness, wariness, general disgust and general like. And there was more. This book ran a pretty good gamut of emotion but it never got too heavy to take away from the light feel of the story.
5) Tone. The whole tone of the book was just fun and quirky. I feel like Lindsey Leavitt and I would totally get along if we were to meet. This book is just so my style.
6) Cleanliness. It's clean. Completely. No swearing, no gross scenes of any kind, not even a make-out scene. Just perfectly squeaky clean. Love.
This was a cute, sweet, fun, quick read and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone. Across the board. I even think guys would get a kick out of (most of) this book.
Sexual Content: Mild
Language: None
Violence: None
Drugs/Alcohol: None
Payton was hilarious. Her OCD-like tendencies, her quirkiness, her method of coping, her way of rebelling. Just hilarious. But she was completely relate-able and likable. My favorite thing about her (and I guess about this author) was that Payton never over-explained anything. She would feel "something" but didn't want to put her finger on it to figure out what that something was. Payton didn't indulge in touchy-feely monologues delving into the depths of her emotions. Neither, for that matter, did any other characters. Loved that.
It was pretty entertaining that Payton chose to focus on Sean's head in order to help herself cope with her father being diagnosed with MS. Hilarious, even. I mean, the stuff she wrote in her journal was so funny I laughed aloud a few times. And I liked the way Sean's character was revealed. We got to know him slowly, like a normal person. And it was nice. Although Sean was a little too perfect. He was calm and focused, kind and generous, funny and cute. And he always said the right things. So, you know, that's nice in a piece of cute little fiction, but it's a bit too perfect. You know?
Ok, so what did I love about his book?
1) Humor. That's always my number one. I like funny things. And this book was that. In the cutest way.
2) Realness. Dialogue felt genuine, characters reacted in normal ways, everything that happened felt like it could have actually happened. Win all around.
3) Characters. Pretty much every character in this book was well-rounded. I mean, Leavitt even managed to round out a character who only got one chapter and was only really there to flirt with Payton's best friend.
4) Heart. There's so much depth of feeling in this book. I mean, I wasn't crying while reading or anything but I felt sadness, loneliness, happiness, giddiness, wariness, general disgust and general like. And there was more. This book ran a pretty good gamut of emotion but it never got too heavy to take away from the light feel of the story.
5) Tone. The whole tone of the book was just fun and quirky. I feel like Lindsey Leavitt and I would totally get along if we were to meet. This book is just so my style.
6) Cleanliness. It's clean. Completely. No swearing, no gross scenes of any kind, not even a make-out scene. Just perfectly squeaky clean. Love.
This was a cute, sweet, fun, quick read and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone. Across the board. I even think guys would get a kick out of (most of) this book.
Sexual Content: Mild
Language: None
Violence: None
Drugs/Alcohol: None
It sounds like a great book. I can't wait to get a copy and read it myself!
ReplyDeleteIt's so cute! I hope you do!
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