Emmy’s best friend, Oliver, reappears after being kidnapped by his father ten years ago. Emmy hopes to pick up their relationship right where it left off. Are they destined to be together? Or has fate irreparably driven them apart?
Emmy just wants to be in charge of her own life.
She wants to stay out late, surf her favorite beach—go anywhere without her parents’ relentless worrying. But Emmy’s parents can’t seem to let her grow up—not since the day Oliver disappeared.
Oliver needs a moment to figure out his heart.
He’d thought, all these years, that his dad was the good guy. He never knew that it was his father who kidnapped him and kept him on the run. Discovering it, and finding himself returned to his old hometown, all at once, has his heart racing and his thoughts swirling.
Emmy and Oliver were going to be best friends forever, or maybe even more, before their futures were ripped apart. In Emmy’s soul, despite the space and time between them, their connection has never been severed. But is their story still written in the stars? Or are their hearts like the pieces of two different puzzles—impossible to fit together?
Readers who love Sarah Dessen will tear through these pages with hearts in throats as Emmy and Oliver struggle to face the messy, confusing consequences of Oliver’s father’s crime. Full of romance, coming-of-age emotion, and heartache, these two equally compelling characters create an unforgettable story.
*******
Another day, another AWESOME ARC to talk about. I had read a small blurp in a library magazine about this book and went to see if I could get an ARC to review. Lucky for me, my request was granted.
Let me begin this review saying that when I finished this book, I went to work and insisted the YA book buyer get this book. I could easily see this book being the next big thing for both teens and parents to read. The story has a great overreaching life lesson for both teens and parents. Both can get something out of this story. I, personally, had a lot of inner reflection after finishing this one.
What would you do as a parent if you kid's best friend was kidnapped by his father? How would you handle the grief of your own friend and neighbor, the parents of said kidnap child? How on earth could you not place a GPS tracking device in your own kid? Trust me, I asked my husband if we could do that and I got a funny look.
This book examines what happens when parents try to hold of too tight for fear of everything and teens who lived with the loss of a good friend almost every day. What happens when he returns and how would he fit back into that fold? The book also gives us a great look at the adjustment period. It's not a happy I'm home but the emotions of a teen who just discovered his mother isn't dead and his father is considered the bad guy? How would you handle that knowing your dad was there for you and took care of everything for you?
A lot of questions and inner reflection for all of the characters that gave this book a good amount of "meat and bones" for the reader. Of course we get typical high school drama, best friend crazies, and love as well but the bigger issues really made this book. It made me pause and say, "I can't put my kid in a bubble and will have to let her find her own path."
"Emmy & Oliver" is due out June 23, 2015. Make sure to stop by your local library to request a copy to read. This one could be the next John Green...that one book that was always on a hold and never on the shelf at the library. It was that good!
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