Dessen, Sarah. Saint Anything. New York: Penguin, 2015.

Sarah Dessen does not disappoint in her latest work. Impatiently I waited for my summer book order to arrive to get my hands on it, zealously avoiding spoilers online. Then, boom, I had the weekend to get it read before my first book talk of the year. I feature in it some of my favorite American young adult authors, naturally Sarah Dessen gets a slide in the power point. I am super excited to talk about Saint Anything.

Dessen consistently gives her readers strong young women, who grow and become empowered. Sydney is no exception. She has felt lost in the shadow of her brother Peyton. His criminal history has almost left her feeling invisible. But she embraces change - a new school, new friends. These new friends - Layla, Mac, Eric, and Irv are fully developed characters who have their own struggles, but find room in their circle for Sydney. Pizza, music, an abandoned carousel provide a setting where Sydney will ultimately flourish. Certainly she experiences some missteps. She is fully developed - real, flawed, and vulnerable. My girls will relate to her. Romance develops, but what I like about Dessen is that the romance is rarely the driving force in the story. Lovely to be sure, but Sydney is independent, and I like that message so much. She finds as much strength in newly realized relationships with her parents, brother, and girlfriends, both old and new, as she does in her romantic one.

A couple of sound bites that I love... "This wasn't news to me how your entire life could come down to one word, and not of your choosing." I can see how often my students can allow themselves to be defined so narrowly, and I love that Sydney learns to fight against this. And another... "There's no shame in trying to make stuff work, is how I see it. It's better than just accepting the broken." Indeed. I look forward to talking about Sydney with my girls. Some good conversations are about to happen, and I just love this part of my job. Thanks, Sarah Dessen.