KEEPING THE MOON

Author (last name first):Dessen, Sarah

Publisher, Date of Publication: Viking/Penguin Putnam/ 1999

Pages: 228pgs.

Grade Level/ or Age Level: 7-12

Classification: Fiction

For Nicole"Colie" Sparks being fifteen, the former fat girl and having no friends is not easy. Added to that, she walks in the shadow of her famous mother whose name is synonymous with fitness. Because her mother is on tour, Colie is sent to spend the summer with an aunt she barely knows. There she meets Norman, a young man who lives with her aunt, and two girls, Isabel and Morgan. Morgan is nice to Nicole but Isabel goes out of her way to be mean. However, even Isabel learns to like Colie.
Colie finds a job as a waitress where Norman, Morgan and Isabel work. Together, the three girls discover new things about themselves, which changes their attitudes towards life and people in general. Colie recognizes she is as beautiful as she wants to be and all she needs in life is high esteem and confidence.
Dessen also looks at boy/girl relationships and how society ridicules those who dare to be different. Once the reader gets pass the sketchiness of the first chapter, KEEP THE MOON is a good book for teenager readers, especially those who have problems fitting in and making friends.

Reviewer: Shirlan Williams