Book Review: SEE YOU AT HARRY'S

Author: Jo Knowles
Number of Pages: 310
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Release Date: May 8, 2012

Fern just wants to live an ordinary life. She doesn't want her father to paste the family picture on ads for their ice cream shop. She doesn't want kids at school to bully her ninth grade brother, Holden, for being gay. She doesn't want her mother to spend the rest of her life meditating in her office. Really, all she wants to is hang out with her best friend Random and to have her family act like a family again. But with one life-changing event, all hopes of this are shattered- or are they?

I really liked this book. It was simple, but in a heart-wrenching, oh-my-gosh-that's-so-incredibly-sad kind of way. I thought it was really cool how Fern and siblings were named after characters in books. (For example, Holden is from The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.) It's little details like that that really bring a book to life for me.

I've never experienced intense grief or loss like in this book, so I can't really be the judge as to whether or not the emotions in this book were realistic. However, they seemed like they were to me. Fern and her family all went through ups and downs, and while the ending of this novel ended on a happier note, it wasn't fairy-tale happy. It was more bittersweet. I think that's really the best way to describe this book.

See You at Harry's was an easy, quick read. It wasn't one of my favorites, but I did enjoy reading it. \

My Rating: :0) :0) :0) :0) 4 out of 5 smileys.

Would I recommend it to a friend?: Yes.

Later,
NutFreeNerd