Review: Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen

Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen
Published: September 1st, 1999
Publisher: Puffin
Pages: 228
Challenge: 100+ Reading Challenge
Other: NA
Buy the book: Bookdepository


Colie expects the worst when she's sent to spend the summer with her eccentric aunt Mira while her mother, queen of the television infomercial, tours Europe. Always an outcast -- first for being fat and then for being "easy" -- Colie has no friends at home and doesn't expect to find any in Colby, North Carolina. But then she lands a job at the Last Chance Cafe and meets fellow waitresses Morgan and Isabel, best friends with a loving yet volatile relationship. Wacky yet wise, Morgan and Isabel help Colie see herself in a new way and realize the potential that has been there all along.

My first Sarah Dessen book! And it did not disappoint. We follow Colie on her trip to her aunt while her mother tours the entire world with her diet program. Colie lands a job at the Last Chance Cafe and everything gets better and better from then on.

Keeping the Moon is a story of self discovery and a coming of age of sorts, because Colie is rediscovering herself. She lost a lot of weight, yet she never got used to getting attention or having friends or anything of that.

I loved how Colie, besides discovering herself, also started looking at the world and the people around her in a different way. I loved Norman and I loved how he got more and more involved in the story as I flipped the pages.

Yes, this is a story we've seen before in one way or another, but that didn't make me enjoy it any less. Dessen's writing was pleasant to read and I kept flipping the pages. It made me hungry for more Sarah Dessen - so more Sarah Dessen it is *scoops up second helping*.


My overall rating:


Four stars for Colie, Norman and Aunt Mira - who were probably the beginning of my Sarah Dessen frenzy.