Young Adult Literature without Apology
Amy's assessment of contemporary young adult literature, organized by author and title, censored by noone.
Realistic | Romance | Science Fiction | Historical Fiction | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery
Petersen, P.J. and Ivy Ruckman (2004). RobandSara.com. NY: Delacorte. 224 pages. ISBN: 0385731647.
After Sara submits a poem to a teen poetry website about shaving her head to support her best friend with cancer who is undergoing chemotherapy treatments, she begins correspondence with another poetry lover who calls himself Rob. Rob and Sara live in entirely different worlds: Sara is a military brat enjoying her father's first post in the United States while Rob is living in a youth facility cum prep school for troubled teens. Their relationship, described entirely through email, deepens idyllically, until Sara recives an email from one of Rob's classmates, warning her that "Rob" is not who he says he is.Like Heart on My Sleeve, this is a story told entirely in emails, yet, as it was written by two authors, suffers less from lack of characterization than most. The font is readable and (for the most part) absent of annoying emoticons meant to stand in for character development. The novel itself is really a "postmodern" romance, re-situated in the teen virtual world of email and Internet posts. Admittedly, the climax is all sweeping violins and drama, but, hey, we can all use a little of that sometimes, can't we?
