Book Review: Keeping The Moon by Sarah Dessen

So! today we kick off Sarah Dessen Week! YAY! All of this week - if at all possible - I'll be reviewing books by the fabulous Sarah Dessen.

Sarah Dessen Week is an event hosted by Heidi @YA Bibliophile and  Jacinda and Jasmine @ The Reading Housewives of Indiana and it will be running from today, May 9th, until May 15th.

I was actually kind of surprised I've reviewed only four of her books to date! So, I'm about to rectify that, starting with Keeping the Moon.

Current Cover

At First Sight: Colie was not looking forward to spending the summer at her Aunt Mira's house, but she had no other choice since her mother - Kiki Sparks, of the fitness craze fame - was going on an European tour to promote her products.

Colby, North Carolina might be a typical beach town, but Aunt Mira is anything but typical - she wears bright clothes that don't match, rides her bike everywhere, and her beach front house seems to be a graveyard of yard sell items that never quite work as they should.  

Though at first Colie would have loved to just get out of there, she finds herself landing a job at the Last Chance Bar & Grill, where she's a waitress along side Morgan and Isabel - who have been best friends with each other since forever. Morgan quickly takes to her and though Isabel isn't so keen on her at first, she does take Colie under her wing, eventually.

Colie isn't sure what to do with friends, she has never had them. All her life she has been a bit of an outsider both because she used to be fat and because her mother moved her all over the country during her first few years of life. But at Colby, people just seem to accept her - her Aunt Mira doesn't care if she was fat before, Morgan is just the maternal type and Isabel is always at hand to delver tough love when necessary; and there is also Norman, the guy who lives in the basement of Mira's house and who seems to like her, just because.

Original Cover

Second Glance: I always sort of loved Keeping the Moon, it's just such a perfect beach read, lighthearted and fun. Sarah Dessen created a lovely story not only about knowing who you are but also accepting it, learning that it's okay to work in your own way. 

It's a quiet, sweet story. With a large dose of friendship - the good, true kind that doesn't let you down - and a dash of romance. Norman is not the most swoony of the Dessen Boys, but he's very sweet, and one of my favorites actually.

UK Cover

Bottom Line: I think this is one of the more overlooked books by Sarah Dessen, but it's perfect for this season of lazying about enjoying the nice weather.

Favorite Quote: "For Mira, there were no lost causes. Everything, and everyone, had its purpose. The rest of the world, too often, might have missed that."

2/3