Sammie Davies is going through hard times. Her parents have recently separated and instead of going to California for the summer with her father as planned, her mother is making her move to New York City to a tiny apartment where she has to sleep in the kitchen.Sure, there is a cute guy in her new apartment building, but Sammie doesn't know anyone in the city and her summer seems to stretch ahead, lonely and with the burden of having to take care of her mother who seems ever more lost than she.
Things look up when Sammie meets Phoebe at the park one day as their dogs, Moxie and Dogma respectively, become fast friends. Phoebe makes Sammie laugh and feel almost normal.
I've always thought of this book as the Sammie and Phoebe book, though Sammie is the storyteller, for me what makes this book awesome is the relationship between these two girls, who are very different. After a lifetime of being the pretty-girl's best friend back home, Sammie is a bit shy and introverted; Phoebe is more quirky and outgoing but in a sweet, not-annoying way.
There are other things in the book, of course, as Sammie does try to get some sort of 'normal' back into her life, and starts to find her own footing in the big city, with the help of Phoebe and other friends she makes along the way.
Love and Other Four-Letter Words is a very sweet book about friendship, dogs, changes and about how growing up might not be so bad after all!
Favorite Quote: "Confidence and insecurity are not mutually exclusive" - Phoebe Frank.
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Yay! I'm glad you liked it! This was my first Carolyn Mackler book and I adored it so...I hope she writes a sequel to this one :)
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