Review: Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt

Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt

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.

In this sweet story of first love, Lindsey Leavitt seamlessly balances heartfelt family moments, spot-on sarcastic humor, and a budding young romance.

Review:

Sean Griswold's Head was a delightfully heartwarming sophomore novel from Lindsey Leavitt that firmly secured her on my favorite authors list. After reading, and loving, her fun and sassy debut, Princess for Hire, last year, I've been dying to read more by Lindsey. Luckily, her first solid YA novel did not disappoint.

Payton Gritas was a main character that was easy to love. She was such a realistic teenager; funny, sweet, and at times naive and easily angered. Payton was well developed and readers got to truly understand her and what she was dealing with. And what exactly was Payton dealing with? Her family recently revealed that Payton's father was suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS). A frightening and painful disease that impacted not only her father but their entire family. It would be terrifying for any teenager to learn that their father was no longer the healthy and cheerful man they always knew. Suddenly Mr. Gritas was having trouble buttoning his shirts and even losing control of his bladder. Payton deals with it by ignoring her parents and the disease in hopes that it will just disappear. Unfortunately, as Payton will learn, this was not the right thing to do.

Her guidance counselor suggests Payton find a focus object and keep a journal about her focus object and thoughts in general. Payton selects Sean Griswold's head. Sean has sat in front of her for years and they've never really spoken before and now Payton can stare at the back of his head, unabashedly, through biology, all in the means of "research". As the novel progresses Payton and Sean become friends and Payton realizes she may indeed have feelings for him. Lindsey Leavitt developed Payton and Sean's relationship beautifully. I loved watching their friendship grow and seeing all the fun times they had together. Both of them were truly kind people and Sean was always there for Payton when times got hard for her.

The novel really allowed Payton to grow and change over the course of the story and learn a lot about both herself and those around her. She had to make some difficult choices and learn from some of her mistakes, but came out for the better in the end. Payton's family had a key role in the story, as did Sean, her best friend Jac, and some other secondary characters. Jac was one of the craziest and most fun friends ever, but sometimes she took things too far. The fact that Sean Griswold's Head didn't really focus on romance, but more the idea of how important it is to always be honest and true to your friends and family and support them no matter what, was one of my favorite things about the book.

There were a lot of intriguing sub-plots interwoven in the plot and the premise of this story was extremely original and well executed. I loved getting to know Payton, Sean, Jac, and the rest of the characters and reading about their ups and downs. Payton's focus journal entries were also included and were a fun and realistic touch. I'm eager to read the second Princess for Hire book releasing this year as well as any other works Lindsey Leavitt releases. I definitely recommend picking this up soon!

Overall: 4.75 out of 5 stars

March 1, 2011/Bloomsbury USA Children's Books/288 Pages/Young Adult

Source: Author (ARC)

Other books by this author: Princess for Hire

YA Historical Fiction Moth: The Queen's Daughter Review

The Queen's Daughter by Susan Coventry

Publisher: Henry, Holt, and Co

Release date: June 8, 2010

Source: Author

Joan’s mother is Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, the most beautiful woman in the world. Her father is Henry II, the king of England and a renowned military leader. She loves them both—so what is she to do when she’s forced to choose between them? As her parents’ arguments grow ever more vicious, Joan begins to feel like a political pawn.

When her parents marry her off to the king of Sicily, Joan finds herself stuck with a man ten years her senior. She doesn’t love her husband, and she can’t quite forget her childhood crush, the handsome Lord Raymond.

As Joan grows up, she begins to understand that her parents’ worldview is warped by their political ambitions, and hers, in turn, has been warped by theirs. Is it too late to figure out whom to trust? And, more importantly, whom to love?

Review:

The Queen's Daughter was a fantastic and eye opening debut novel that reminded me once again about how much I love historical fiction.

To begin with, The Queen’s Daughter included a ton of historical details. Names, dates, and places were presented in an intriguing way and it made me want to keep reading, to find out more about what was happening. All of the characters were well developed and believable, especially Joan. Readers got to experience things with Princess Joan from the time she was six years old all the way into her thirties. Joan was a great character, and she was truly strong and brave during hard times. It’s hard to imagine that girls were married off so young in the Middle Ages and my heart went out to young Joan when she was sent off to marry King William, a man almost twice her age.

It was especially interesting to connect the young characters to famous historical figures. Like Joan’s brothers: John (in Robin Hood) and Richard (The Lionhearted). Susan Coventry really put a face to history and made me connect a lot of details I knew about the time period and people. This was a fabulous debut and proved that Susan really did her research.

The Queen’s Daughter didn’t hold back on details and really stayed true to how people acting during the time. I can’t wait to read more about Joan. She is a figure in history I didn’t know much about and reading her story was a great experience.

Overall, this was a well written and extremely developed debut. I’m sure fans of historical fiction will devour it and even if you haven’t liked the genre before this will definitely appeal to you. I highly recommend picking it up!

Overall: 4.75 out of 5 stars

Review: I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan

I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan

Seventeen-year-old Bronwen Oliver doesn't just want a family. She has one of those, and there's nothing terribly wrong with them apart from bickering grandparents, an image-obsessed mother and a brother she describes simply as Jesus. But there's no natural sense of connection between Bronwen and her family, leaving her with the belief -- and the hope -- that she was switched at birth, that she was never supposed to be Bronwen Oliver but someone else entirely.

When she begins dating college senior Jared Sondervan, she finds herself thoroughly embraced by the loving family she has always wanted and does not hesitate to say yes when Jared proposes on her 18th birhday. Plans for the Perfect Beach Wedding before her junior year of college become plans for the Perfect Beach Wedding before her freshman year of college. And a wedding so soon isn't exactly what Bronwen wants. But Jared is. And his family is. Or so she thinks.

Before Bronwen can determine what she truly wants, she must first determine who she truly is, and the answer, she discovers, is only partially what she thought it was. She wasn't switched at birth, but she's also not Bronwen Oliver and hasn't been for a very long time.

Review:

I adored this book! Creative, original, and fantastic- I Now Pronounce You Someone Else is one of my favorite 2010 debuts! Bronwen was an interesting, likable character and from the first page I was drawn into her narration. The summary was a little vague, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised to discover this book was so much more than I expected.

McCahan has a great writing style; it seems like she always knows exactly what word or phrase to use. The descriptions made it easy for me to visualize everything that was happening and made it much more realistic. The characters were well developed, as well. Even the secondary characters, like Spence. Every character had a place in this book and added even a little something to it.

Again, Bronwen was a great female lead. She was relatable and detailed, enough that made me really want to know her in person. Her family situation was sad, but I loved Whitt from the start. It's so great to see someone connect so well with their step-parent, when they're made out so negatively a lot of the time. Bronwen didn't have a good relationship with her mom, and it was sad to see how demanding and thoughtless of Bronwen she was at times. Some of my favorite scenes were those involving Bronwen's extended family. They really were, as Bronwen said, crazy! They brought up the oddest topics and bickered all the time. They were sweet in a different sort of way. I could see how Bronwen thought she didn't belong at times and developed the "alter ego" Phoebe Lillywhite! I liked how the Phoebe Lillywhite angle tied in with the rest of the plot!

The main plot line, Bronwen's relationship with Jared, was original and emotional. I've never read a YA book where the two characters were going to be married. It may seem like Jared and Bronwen's relationship moved too quickly, but they were perfect for each other and Bronwen is faced with a big decision in the end.

I loved Jared and I loved the scenes with his family. They were caring, understanding, and just awesome! Jared was the same, he just seemed like the overall perfect guy!

I conclusion, I loved I Now Pronounce You Someone Else, it was a fabulous debut that left me smiling and crying. The romance is sweet and unique, and you'll fall in love with the characters. Bronwen is a terrific main character, and a good influence on readers her age. I definitely recommend picking up a copy of it this summer!

Overall: 4.75 out of 5 stars

June 1, 2010/Arthur A. Levine Books/272 Pages/Young Adult

Source: Publisher (ARC)