"The Truth About Forever"

This is one of Sarah Dessens YA books which is one of my favorites. I've read alot of her books and plan to read them all. I have yet to do some insight commenting or book reviews of her other books that I've read. Her books evoke anticipation and emotions in me that I haven't even bothered to tap into in a long time. So for this and many more reasons, I really enjoy her books!

Macy- the main character, lost her father-saw him die
Wes- artist, works for Wish Catering
Delia- Wes' aunt, owner of Wish Catering
Bert-Wes' little brother, loves Sci-Fi
Kristy- Macys friend, lively young lady, does and says what she wants, works for Wish
Monica- lives with Kristy, slow paced, doesn't talk much, works for Wish Catering
Jason-Macys Ex-Boyfriend, nerd, all about academics
Macys mother
Caroline-Macys sister

Macy was with Jason for several years and he was a brainiac guy and she just followed suit with his plans, studying all the time for SAT's, doing extra homework and hanging out with noone but Jason. He prepared to go to Brain Camp and thus she is stuck at home for the whole summer by herself and fills in for Jason at the library. When he leaves Macy misses him and sends an email to him saying that she loves him; big mistake. Jason is wound up in his academics that he doesn't have time for distractions and feels that his relationship with Macy at this point in life is a distraction. So he replies to her email and tells her he thinks they should take a break from each other.

Macy's father passed away and she saw the whole thing, He was jogging that morning and before he left the house told Macy to get up and get to running, She didn't feel like running, but got up later and headed out towards their regular route. She finds her dad on the street and a stranger holding him trying to revive him back to life; he passed out and had a heart attack. She's devastated as she was very close to her father!
Then as the story progresses things happen and Macy finds a job, new friends and she finds herself opening up to Wes and enjoying her new life for the summer, outside of her comfort zone!

One of my favorite parts in the book was where Delia had her baby and Macy was there to help. The hospital was too much for Macy to handle as it brought back those memories of her in the waiting room as they waited for the doctors who were tending to her father years ago. She takes the elevator excusing herself from Delia and the others and finds an empty alcove where she began to sob tears as the memories of her father overwhelmed her. Behind her was Wes. He put his hand on her shoulder and she didn't move away as she usually would have. Instead, she gave in and let Wes pull her against him and pressed her head against his chest where she felt his heartbeat steady and true. What a moment! When you're down and out and not at your best, who comes to your aid, WES a true hunk and comforter! He also lost his mother to illness so he has compassion and understands what Macy is going thru.

Throughout the book when Macy meets Wes while working for Wish Catering, she and Wes play the "Truth Game" and this is the way they get to know each other so well. Their likes and dislikes, what their thinking and so forth, The catch is, you have to tell the Truth. I like that game, no long story telling just right to the point..Thus motivated by this, I'm playing the Truth Game with my friend and its going pretty good. No judging of one another, just Truth!

Another part in the book that just got me thinking and I really enjoyed was when Macy runs to look for Wes as he left her house. They had a previous conversation where Macy was telling Wes that I guess things a re back to normal she would be with Jason and wes would be with Becky. Macy is out of breath when she reaches him and told him that there has been a change in the "Truth Game." He didn't understand, she told him that he has to ask her the question he passed and then the game would be over. He didn't know where she was going with this. Macy thought to herself, " I knew, in the silence that followed, that anything could happen here. It might be too late: again, I might have missed my chance. But I would at least know I tried, that I took my heart and extended my hand, whatever the outcome." This paragraph had so much meaning for me. Isn't that the way its suppose to be, to take that chance and if you really have a good feeling about the situation, take that step and go for it..

I'm so glad Macy took that step because when Wes asked her the question, "What would you do if you could do anything?" Macy closed the gap between her and Wes and kissed him right there in the street for anyone to see. She then says, " As for me, I was just trying to get it right, whatever that meant. But now I finally felt I was on my way. Everyone had a forever, but given a choice, this would be mine, The one that began in this moment, with Wes, in a kiss that took my breath away, then gave it back-leaving me astounded, amazed and most of all, alive." Was that deep or what. I love that part in the book.

Macys father before passing away bought her a gift and she wasn't suppose to open it until he told her. When he passed she just pushed the gift aside in her closet. As time goes on and she's friends with Wes, she decides to open the gift and to her surprise it was a sculpture of the angel that Wes made. Her father told her it was gonna be a great surprise and indeed it was!

It's hard when a parent passes away, leaving you with only the memories to reflect on. My father recently passed away last year due to illness. So I could sympathize with Macy as she had flashbacks of her father. Unlike Macy, where she saw her father pass away, noone was in my fathers hospital room when he passed. It was like, he didn't want anyone around when he took his last breath of life! I think he wanted it that way. He wasn't in pain when he passed nor was he conscious according to the doctors, but I believe he could hear us all when we spoke to him. The last night I was with him, it was my watch and I did the night shift. We never left him alone. For some reason in the morning, I looked at my dad as he lay there still and I don't know it was like I was prompted to whisper in his ear, "Dad, if you're too tired and you're body wants to rest and you want to be at peace, its OK.. go ahead, we will be fine! The next day, sure enough he passed away! I was devastated, I didn't know what to say, I regretted saying what I said to him for a moment, but I knew it was his time to go. His body has been thru so much and it was too much physically to try and stay alive to be with your loved ones. I know he gave it his best, but what matters is that he's at Rest with the one on high who brought us all down to earth! Sorry, kind of went off from the book, but what is a book if you can't relate it to real life! Fictional or Non-Fictional it is the Circle of Life!


Delia and Kristy were two characters that made the book come alive and have some real life incidents and attitudes. Delia the owner of WISH, somehow always has mishaps during her catering and its like without them she doesn't really feel normal. In any case, she always handles everything in a fast pace and gets the job done!

Kristy is such a vibrant girl, living life, adventurous and pretty much spills the beans about Wes and Macy and how they both know they want to be with each other but because of their different personalities just can't seem to get it right. She compares Wes and Macy to a novel she read and explains everything to Macys mom and the whole Wish Crew at Macys house while they are at work. Kristy is a kind of friend I wouldn't mind having, Speaks the truth and just tells it like it is, and she also has your back!

Bret is a Sci-Fi junky. He plays the Gotcha game with his brother Wes and always loses. Wes pretty much looks after Bret. He makes me laugh when he pulls up in his new car, what once was an ambulance, too funny

Monica- quiet and sticks to her words of Mmm Hmm for everything

Caroline- Macys sister, she renovates their old beach house, where they have plenty of memories with their father. She was the outspoken and older sister. It was her idea to re-do the house and have her mom and Macy come to take vacation. She was tired of not talking about the good memories they had with thei dad and it was time to move on and remember him and everything he's done for them

Well, this has got to be one of my longest reviews and sharing of my feelings. To all who read it, thanks and enjoy! Sometimes, well most of the time, I can't stop and just type away.

"GROWN UPS"

July 5th, no work HOORAY! I decided to treat myself to the 10:45am showing of Grown Ups." I went by myself, didn't want to wait for anyone to get ready, didn't want to wake up anyone to go with me, so I decided to venture on by myself, and it was NICE! There were a few older couples in the theater and just me, so it was nice and relaxing.
The movie is hilarious! You laugh in the beginning to the end. A story about 5 dovoted friends who were able to win the Basketball Championship for their Middle School in 1978. Their coach really loved the boys and 30 years later everyone is grown up living with ther families and kids. Their coach passed away which brings them to reunite at the funeral.
You have to have a good sense of humor and be quick whitted to understand all the comedy in the movie. Everyone is like ragging on each other at any given time and if you don't listen carefully you miss the joke, its very funny!
One of my favorite parts was when the fathers take their families to the water park and the 5 friends are in the pool and they all take a leak in the pool and the water turns dark blue..that was hilarious. Adam Sandler's wife in the movie is Salma Hyak and she's this high end fashion designer in Beverly Hills and Adam is a Hollywood Agent. His 2 boys are total rich brats. Always texting the nanny to bring them food, playing their video games and acting like punks. He has a little daughter who drives his merecedes into a patio table. Ne-ways, the get together for their coachs' funeral, brings all the guys and their families together for a weekend at the old river house. Each family and their kids have their own issues.
In the end, everyone has a good time and Adam Sandlers brats enjoy themselves and get to break out of their rich habbits at least for the week with everyone else. Salma breaks down and tells Adam instead of leaving to Milan, Italy after one night at the river house; she decides family time is more important that her fashion show which can be handled by others.
Because Adam Sandlers team won the basketball game in 1978 their enemies would not live it down. So they play and Adams son plays and the enemy plays with his son against them. At the final moment where Adam Sandler never misses the bank shot, he looks at his enemies wife and family and purposely misses the shot. At the end of the movie, the fireworks are going off and Salma asks Adam why did you miss that shot, he said because sometimes the enemy needs to win, and we need to learn how to lose! A nice ending.
A nice family summer movie. I would recommend this movie to families and to get a good laugh! Good family time..

"ECLIPSE"

For some reason, I wasn't really excited to go watch "Eclipse" and I really wasn't planning on watching it, but when the day came, I ended up going. Went to Rolling Hills Cinema with my cousins to watch it and it was playing in 4 theaters so it wasn't really crowded. I was surprised to see alot of guys there without girlfriends watching the movie which was kinda cool. I mean Edward is HOT and Jacob does have a nice body! Although, I'm TEAM WOLF, Jacob really got on my nerves trying to win Bella's heart when we all know she's in LOVE with Edward. There were certain parts in the movie when Edward wasn't as pale and white where he looked totally HOT. Jacob with no shirt always looks good!!

The parts I didn't like were where in the book, I was hatin Bella, but when I saw everything in my face and on the screen, I was a TRUE BELLA HATER! At the jump of the movie she's kissing on Edward, throughout the movie, then she's always making out with Edward and then on the mountain she's making out with Jacob, who does that! YUCK, in the theater some random guy yelled out she's a SLUT when she was makin out with Jacob, and I couldn't hold back, so I turned around and yelled out, you're right, she is a slut! WHOA..I was not diggin her at all.
I enjoyed all the parts that they put in the movie because it depicts all the important parts of the book, but couldn't help myself when I saw how Bella was like torn between Jacob and Edward. Its obvious that she's in love with Edward, so Jacob give it a rest..

I enjoyed Rosalie and Jaspers stories and I appreciated Victoria, but the old Victoria kinda stuck in my head. The old Victoria looked like a natural, but this new one wasn't quite there for me. I love the Cullens, love their devoted protection for one another in their family, don't love how everyone is willing to die and get hurt for Bella, for what..UGH! Like how the wolves and vampires combined forces to work together!

I would definitely go sse "Eclipse" again just to see what details I missed out on. I recommend this movie it was good and we all know whats going to happen in the book, so seeing everything on screen was kool. Of course, the book is always better than the movie because its hard to plese everyone and their expectations. There were 3 different directors and each one brought different ideas and perceptions into the movie. I"ll be waiting for "Breaking Dawn" This is the book where everything unfolds and plenty of action will take place.

"Keeping the Moon"

This is one of Sarah Dessens books that I found very in tune with my theme in 2010 of Happy Endings! This book is a nice caption of a girl who has found friends who help her to seek her inner and outter beauty and at the same time finds LOVE!

Characters are:

Colie-15 year old girl, low self esteem, lost weight
Kiki Sparks-Colies mom
MIra- Colie's aunt/artist, writes cards like hallmarks
Morgan- Waitress #1 at Last Chance Diner, Isabels BFF
Isabel-Waitress #2 at Last Chance Diner, Morgans BFF
Norman-17 year old boy, rents room at Mira's, Artist and cook at Last Chance Diner

The book starts off by introducing Colie as a young girl with her mother who travel in different cities and states looking for employment and a place where they fit in. Colie and her mother Kiki are both overweight in the beginning. Kiki soon after gets inspired and loses weight. She then helps her daughter Colie to shed some pounds as well. Colie doesn't have much self esteem always being teased in school as the fat girl and rumors about her sleeping with a boy, which was not true! Rumors spread by Caroline whom she hated ugh! I just hate girls like that. Colies mother is now doing infomercials and selling her weight loss programs and inspiring other ladies around the world to get up and lose weight! Kiki has to go on a tour to Europe to sell her products and make appearances on TV Shows. So Colie goes to stay with her aunt in Colby, NC for 2 months while her mother is on tour.

The part in the book that I found to my liking was when Morgan and Isabel (BFF's) were total opposites but you can tell they had each others back. Morgan was a well structured young woman, neat, structured had plans for her futre, while Isabel was an outspoken, cigarette smoking, blonde who loved CD's. Their friendship was so cute. Everytime Morgan would leave the diner and say she was quitting Isabel knew the routine, she would come right back in the diner. When Morgan was cheated on by her fiance, well he was actually married and the wife pregnant while all along Isabel told Morgan what was going to happen, Morgan didn't want to believe Isabel. When the truth came out,Morgan was distraught but Isabel was rigt there to console her as any good BFF would do! They would turn up their disco music and just dance their problems away, dancing to one of my faves, " I will survive." Singing, "First I was afraid I was petrified" haha love that song and the message is SWEET, yes us women "WILL SURVIVE"..Their relationship was a lasting one indeed.

I enjoyed Colie's character as it unfolds and she finds friendship which is something she never had movng from state to state with her mom and being that she was fat, not easy to make friends. Colie works at the Last Chance Diner and Morgan and Isabel befriend her. Morgan teachers her the ins and outs of working, and that having a good attitude as a waittess is crucial! It took a while longer for Isabel to warm up to Colie. Isabel dyed Colie's hair, plucked her eyebrows and told her the rules of walking up right, straight back, smile with confidence and always believe in yourself, don't let anyone disrespect you, don't give them that satisfaction that they made you feel inferior to them. Morgan was a nice girl, always telling Colie that she would be okay and would invite her for a girls night out and let her hang out with them at their place down the road from her aunt Mira's house where Colie stayed. Morgan and Isabel helpd Colie believe in herself and have respect for the person she is!

Another character I enjoyed was Norman. A young slow pace moving, artist, who moved out of his house when he told his dad he didn't want to become a salesman like all his other brothers and his father. He moved out and rented a room from Mira and worked as a cook as The Last Chance Diner.He picks up Colie from the train station when she arrives in Colby. He's a good artist and saves money to go to ARt School. He was always nice to Colie. She never thought of Norman as a boy she would ever date, just as Norman. But, as time progresses he asks Colie if he could do a painting of her and she says YES! The BFF's notice that Norman likes Colie and when they asked Colie, this of course is after her whole make-over, she says, I never thought of Norman like that, I mean he's an artist and collects weird things. Upon hearing this, Isabel gets heated and tells Colie, Norman is a nice guy anyone should be happy to date him, had I known you would act like this I would have never helped you look different. Colie was ashamed of herself and inside she knew she appreciated Norman for being the first to be nice to her and small talking with her when she was new in town. Colie with her new make over was gaining a little confidence and hurting the wrong people.
When the painting is done, which took 2 months of sitting and posing and in those 2 months, Colie and Norman become good friends and enjoy each others company. Norman told Colie the painting is done, and she was kind of sad that it was over as she spent every nite in his room posing and talking with him, enjoying their friendship. Norman told Colie I'll show you the painting tonite after I cook you dinner. So she was very excited. So he makes her dinner, and then after dessert, he receals the painting and she can't believe her eyes, its a painting of a beautiful girl, its her. She asks Norman is this how you see me, and he says this is how you are! She was so happy and as they sat on the floor on his blanket with candles, he leaned over and gave her a kiss and she was ecstatic and felt so comfortable with Norman and she knew he was right for her. They went outside to see the Moon Eclipse and Morgan and Isable saw them holding hands and her aunt Mira as well. It was a nice site for everyone to be there watching the moon that night.

I enjoyed this book, the BFF's and their relationship. Norman and Colie and how they ended up together. Mira, Colies aunt was an artist, who was fat and she dressed in loud colors and rode her bike around town; her only means of transportation. But she didn't care what the town was saying about her, she wan an eccentric artist and was fine the way she led her life. Also, Isabel understood what Colie was going thru being fat because before she was this blonde, thin, beautiful girl, Isabel was a fat girl all thru high school, so she could sympathize for Colie, but never told her. Morgan was arguing with Isabel and told her at least she didn't wear a necklace with a frog on it, and Colie realized the picture of the fat girl was Isabel.

Would definitely recommend this book..Thank you Ms. Dessen for another wonderful novel..