I'm trying to use some of the holiday break to catch up on reading recently released books, focusing on the YA market. I saw Roomies (co-authored by Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando) recommended in the teen section of my local library and couldn't resist borrowing it. I'm a big fan of Zarr's and have reviewed her work before on the blog, but I hadn't come across Altebrando's work before. And seriously, who could resist that cover???
This is a really clever and unusual book in terms of its structure. It's told in alternating points of view of two girls, one in New Jersey and one in San Francisco, who are destined to be college roommates at Berkeley. The narrative takes place over the course of the summer before college after they get their dorm assignments and the university suggests they should contact each other prior to coming to campus.
I had expected this to be an epistolary novel focusing on emails and texts between the two girls, but actually it was two separate stories with the texts and emails interwoven into it. The girls' relationship (they hesitate to label it a "friendship") blossoms as they go through their day to day lives in their respective cities and plan for college. They are dealing with separation from their families for the first time, re-defining their high school friendships over the summer, and the future of their romantic relationships once they get to college.
The novel beautifully captures the transition between being a high school student and being a college student, and the differences between living at home and becoming an adult. All of the interpersonal relationships (familial, friends, and romantic) are sensitively handled and the girls' voices ring out clearly on the page. Lauren ("Lo") and Elizabeth ("EB") are very different people from very different backgrounds, but they manage to help each other make the transition they need. I also have to say that Lo's relationship with her parents is so lovely and wonderful it just tore at my heart strings!
This is a quick read and an engaging one from two extremely gifted authors. I would highly recommend it for girls finishing high school and heading off to college - as well as anyone else who simply likes a good story.
This is a really clever and unusual book in terms of its structure. It's told in alternating points of view of two girls, one in New Jersey and one in San Francisco, who are destined to be college roommates at Berkeley. The narrative takes place over the course of the summer before college after they get their dorm assignments and the university suggests they should contact each other prior to coming to campus.
I had expected this to be an epistolary novel focusing on emails and texts between the two girls, but actually it was two separate stories with the texts and emails interwoven into it. The girls' relationship (they hesitate to label it a "friendship") blossoms as they go through their day to day lives in their respective cities and plan for college. They are dealing with separation from their families for the first time, re-defining their high school friendships over the summer, and the future of their romantic relationships once they get to college.
The novel beautifully captures the transition between being a high school student and being a college student, and the differences between living at home and becoming an adult. All of the interpersonal relationships (familial, friends, and romantic) are sensitively handled and the girls' voices ring out clearly on the page. Lauren ("Lo") and Elizabeth ("EB") are very different people from very different backgrounds, but they manage to help each other make the transition they need. I also have to say that Lo's relationship with her parents is so lovely and wonderful it just tore at my heart strings!
This is a quick read and an engaging one from two extremely gifted authors. I would highly recommend it for girls finishing high school and heading off to college - as well as anyone else who simply likes a good story.
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