Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

Summary: Last year, Annabel was "the girl who has everything"--at least that's the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf 's Department Store.This year, she's the girl who has nothing: no best friend because mean-but-exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. Until she meets Owen Armstrong. Tall, dark, and music-obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad boy with a commitment to truth-telling.With Owen's help,maybe Annabel can face what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends.

My thoughts: It’s the first day of school and Annabel is nervous.  Something happened last spring(which the reader doesn’t find out about until much later in the novel) that caused a rift between Annabel and her friends.  At lunch, she finds herself, alone, sitting near a mysterious, intimidating boy.  This becomes their routine, never speaking but always eating lunch “together”.  Eventually, of course, Annabel and the boy begin talking and find themselves becoming friends.  Also, as the semester goes on she faces what happened last spring and learns some things about herself along the way.

After finding out what happened to her that summer it got really interesting on how she handled things. I kept re-reading parts because it was so good. My thoughts on Annabel is that she is a strong and beautiful person, but sometimes she doesn't know how to handle things the right way. As for Owen, I absolutely loved his character, even though he listens to funky kind music I would have never listen.

Overall: This is one of my favorite Sarah Dessen book because I loved every moment reading it. From the beginning to end. The characters in this book made me root for each other. Also I love the message of Just Listen. It was a fun and romantic read and I finished this book in two days.

Cover: I like the cover, but it would have been nice to actually see someones face or even have Owen in it.