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Let me just start off by saying that I can’t imagine not loving anything written by Sara Zarr.  All of her stories [see also Story of a Girl, Sweethearts, and How to Save a Life] are just so compelling, and her characters so realistic that I become very quickly attached.  Finishing one of her books always makes me feel like a friend moved away; very bitter-sweet. One of the reasons I thought this particular book was so great is because it was still completely accessible even though I don’t know a ton about classical music or playing piano [so you shouldn’t let that stand in your way if you’re not well versed either].

In this story, we meet Lucy Beck-Moreau — musical prodigy and former concert pianist.  She used to be a pretty big deal.  I’m talking traveling the world, recording songs with symphonies, and hearing herself on the radio big…  But then, she suddenly stopped performing.  Everyone has a theory about what happened, but no one knows the real story.  Now that Lucy’s younger brother has a new teacher — because the former teacher dropped dead in the middle of a lesson — Lucy is starting to deal with her feelings about the whole situation, partly in hopes that she can help her brother avoid the burnout she experienced.

I am so grateful that someone let Susan Beth Pfeffer in on the “secret definition of trilogy” [as Scott Westerfeld put it when he wrote the dedication for Extras].  I was not OK with leaving the Moon Crash Trilogy as it ended in This World We Live In…  I needed to know what happened next!  Luckily, Susan Beth Pfeffer listened to her fans and kept writing even when her publisher wasn’t [initially] interested in a fourth Moon Crash book.

Miranda’s younger brother, Jon, is now 16 years old.  As the baby of the family, he has gotten used to a life of relative privilege.  Even when food was extremely scarce, people made sure he was fed.  When work needed to be done, others worked harder so he didn’t have to.  And when Alex had only 3 slips to get into an enclave — which would provide more safety, food, and educational opportunities for the people within — everyone agreed that those slips should go to Jon, his stepmother, Lisa, and her baby, Gabe.  Many clavers got in simply because of the money and power they had before the moon crash, so Jon’s so-called friends often remind him that he’s a “slip” and could be kicked out if he doesn’t play along/act the part of a claver well enough.  Since his “job” is playing soccer and his status as a claver gets him as much food, booze, and trouble-free mischief as he wants, though, Jon is often all too happy to play along.

People in White Birch, including some of Jon’s own family members [Miranda, Alex, and his mom], are known as grubs and often work for clavers in the capacity of domestic servants, drivers, and greenhouse workers.  I was extremely uncomfortable with Jon’s hateful attitude toward grubs and how cavalierly he acted despite his family’s position, but I could see how easily a teenager might dissociate for the sake of fitting in and surviving in such a harsh reality.  As much as I hated Jon and the things he did, it made all too much sense that a spoiled kid raised in a post-apocalyptic world would turn out this way.  Luckily, Jon experienced some decent character development and the ending left me feeling like there was hope for Jon and his family… and maybe even a fifth Moon Crash book!  😉

Sarah Dessen is a fantastic writer.  And, if you like one of her books, chances are good that you will like them all.  I was especially pleased with the fact that this book features cameos of both people and places from other Dessen novels, like some of the characters (and even the beach town of Colby) from Along for the Ride and the website UMe.com [very much like Facebook] from Lock and Key.  But, just in case simply knowing that Sarah Dessen wrote this novel is not enough for you, I supposed I can spend some time explaining what it’s about!

Luke and Emaline are high school sweethearts.  Even though she doesn’t quite understand what Luke sees in her, she loves just about everything about him — he’s nice, fun to hang out with, and also quite good looking. Even though her life isn’t perfect, she is perfectly content.  Then, Theo shows up.  Other than the fact that he is also good looking, he is practically Luke’s polar opposite –  he’s serious more often than not, prefers fine dining to hanging out with friend at a burger joint, and he’s extremely driven rather than laid back.  Nearly everything Theo does is in an effort to be the BEST EVER.  It doesn’t make sense, but Emaline finds herself drawn to Theo and soon begins questioning everything about her life.  I recommend this book to people who enjoy their romance with a side order of deep thoughts.

Seraphina’s father, a high ranking official, was extremely overprotective and wished to keep her hidden away as much as possible.  She assumed it was because her mother had died in childbirth and somewhat forgave his overbearing nature, but that didn’t mean she was pleased with his strict rules — especially the rule forbidding her from playing music.  When she found her mother’s old flute, she taught herself how to play and then played in front of some party guests to force his hand with music lessons.  Serafina did not understand why this caused him to become so enraged and to fear for her safety, but she was pleased that he at last conceded to let her study music with tutor named Orma [a dragon in human form].  The lessons improved her skill so much that she eventually became apprentice to a famous musician and then even became a tutor for the princess.  When Seraphina discovered the secret that drove her father’s fear, she began to understand that working with such high-ranking people put her in grave danger, but it was too late.  At that point, she could only hope to keep safe and to protect the people she cared about.

It wasn’t exactly easy to be an independent teenage girl in New York City in 1911, but Aurora Lewis wouldn’t let societal norms dictate her life.  She refused to give up on her musical studies to attend a “finishing school” because she was determined to play violin in a symphony someday.  When she arrived at violin lessons one Saturday morning, though, she found the studio a mess and the window open — despite the winter chill in the air.  Looking down from the window, she found her teacher dead on the sidewalk… and was accused, by street hooligans, of having pushed him!  Although the police cleared her when they deemed his death an accident, Aurora wasn’t satisfied with that result and decided that she and her friends would have to solve this murder themselves.  This book was well written, fast-paced, and full of interesting musical and historical facts.

Even though the rest of her family has psychic abilities, Blue was born without the ability to do more than to amplify the powers of others.  Because of this amplification, Blue is always expected to be present for the parade of souls on St. Mark’s Eve.  At this parade, her mother records the names of the people who are marching — because they will die sometime in the next year.  And, though Blue has never been able to see anyone before, she both sees and hears a Raven Boy named Gansey.  Blue has always had a policy of avoiding Raven Boys [a.k.a. students of nearby Aglionby Prep] because they usually mean trouble.  But, she is both inexplicably drawn to Gansey and curious whether she saw him because she is his true love or the reason for his death.

Jordan Klein loved living in New York City and was less than pleased when she found out that her family had to move to Texas for the entire summer.  Why?  Her Uncle Jacob got caught trying to smuggle “contraband” [bibles] into China and was advised not to leave the country until charges were officially dropped.  Since Jordan’s father, Eli, was a professor of religious studies, he was asked to be the substitute pastor for his brother’s small-town church in Texas.  Jordan and her mom were both upset about leaving NYC for three months but figured Eli would probably realize he made a mistake and head home after only a couple of weeks.  Upon arrival, Jordan didn’t think she would ever get used to her temporary home… but she soon made some friends and found herself less anxious to leave town.  As readers might expect, the summer was life-changing.  Jordan learned a lot about herself that she may not have discovered if not for this move.  What I didn’t expect, nevertheless, was the crazy twist at the end or just how funny most of this book would be.  (I’m talking, laughing out loud so often that I had my coworkers staring at me during lunch funny!)  If you’re looking for a story that asks big questions without weighing you down, you should definitely check this one out.