Review-So Much Closer

So Much Closer by Susane Colasanti

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Brooke is a high school junior who, on the last few days of junior year, decides she needs to profess her love to Scott, a fellow junior whom she believes she is destined to be with. Before she can tell him her feelings, she learns that he and his family are moving from their New Jersey town to New York City.

But not to worry! Brooke then decides that she's going to follow him to New York because she will move in with her father who abandoned her and her mother years ago who just so happens to live in the neighborhood that Scott is moving into. How convenient!

I normally hate stories that have plot contrivances like that so I was a little iffy on this one at first. However, I really liked Brooke and being able to watch her adjust to her new life in New York. She starts her senior year at the same school Scott goes to, and they have a fun class together called Out the Box. We are able to see what happens with Brooke's crush on Scott as well as the relationship with her father, and her new friends Sadie. Sadie finds out what a genius Brooke is and gets her to sign up for tutoring, where Brooke begins tutoring another senior named John, an eccentric boy with a learning disability.

I really enjoyed the characters of Brooke, Sadie, and John. I like how "take charge" Brooke was in regards to her feelings for Scott. I wish I had her determination! I also enjoyed her rants about the public school system. As I said, Brooke is a genius, but gets by on Cs in school, simply because her teachers (before she came to New York and met the Out the Box teacher) never challenged her or forced her to step up. As a public school teacher myself, it's things like this (even though this book is fictional) that let me know that I do need to be here to show that not all teachers are simply here for a paycheck(small as it is anyway.)

I wasn't too much a fan of Scott, and the outcome of he and Brooke's situation could be easily predicted, but it was still interesting to read how it happened. I was very pleased with the ending.

A solid four stars and I definitely recommend this enjoyable young adult read.



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Source: Library
Challenges: 100 Books in a Year, Young Adult Challenge