Skip to main content

YOU HAVE SEVEN MESSAGES by Stewart Lewis



copyright date: 2011
primarily marketed for: young adult (7th grade and up)

I have been thinking lately about the way I am drawn to books that are told through lists of some sort.  Once I got started thinking about it, I came up with quite a list (imagine that) of books that involve a list or series of some sort.  I think this may have to be another blog post sometime soon. 

In this case, You Have Seven Messages contains a series of messages left on a cell phone.   So, here are my seven messages about this book:

1.     The basic premise is totally intriguing: Luna’s mother died when she was hit by a taxi.  A few months later, Luna comes across her still activated cell phone (plot details like this are pretty well accounted for and feel realistic in the context of the story) and finds there are seven messages.  The seven messages help Luna uncover more information about her mother’s death, reveal some of her family’s secrets, and ultimately help her move on.
2.     The setting is appealing: New York City, lush condos and studios owned by a Luna’s father (who is a big-time movie director), city streets and subways. 
3.     Luna’s relationship with her family members (father, charming little brother, and even her mother) is well crafted, believable, and enviable. 
4.     There is a love interest thrown into the mix.
5.     Because the author is also a singer-songwriter, there are lots of music references, and the book has an artsy thread to it as well—Luna is a budding photographer, and her mother used to be a fashion model.
6.     There are lots of characters to keep track of, but if you don’t sweat it, the story will make sense of itself.
7.     Even though by the end it seemed like the author was less clever about his craft and plot development, the story is still an overall fulfilling story of a teenager figuring out who she is in the wake of her mother’s death and revelations about her family. 

Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 9, 2012 at 7:49 PM

    I am intrigued. I love the list structure you used. You created a review that has sparked my interest. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Linda BJanuary 9, 2012 at 9:06 PM

    Clever idea to use the list idea for your review, Christy. And what an interesting idea for a plot. I thought it was going to end up being a strange murder mystery. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Irene LathamJanuary 10, 2012 at 4:15 PM

    Books that are lists... I'm thinking... THIRTEEN REASONS WHY... an adult one I loved called MANY THINGS HAVE HAPPENED SINCE HE DIED AND HERE ARE THE HIGHLIGHTS by Elizabeth Dewbery. Thanks for the review and for setting my noggin running!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TAKE WHAT YOU CAN CARRY by Kevin C. Pyle

copyright date: March 2012 primarily marketed for: young adults (12 and up) Despite the fact that the teacher in me sees so many lesson possibilities in Kevin C. Pyle’s graphic novel Take What You Can Carry , you should read it simply for the grace of its stories.   The artwork is as striking as the stories it tells.   Using artwork in two different colors and styles, Pyle tells the stories of two teenage boys living years and miles apart.   And yet, he communicates the universality in their experiences.   One boy is a Japanese American forced to move into an internment camp during WWII.   His family struggles to maintain their dignity and sense of peace under unbearable conditions. The other is a rebellious boy with an attitude whose reckless behavior causes him to wind up in trouble with the law.   To make amends, he finds himself completing community service hours in the most unlikely place.   I found my...
1 comment
Read more

ALL THESE THINGS I’VE DONE by Gabrielle Zevin

copyright date: September 2011 primarily marketed for: young adults (8 th grade and up) I wish I would’ve known this was the beginning of a series before I started this book.   Then again, I might never have picked it up if I thought I might be committing to multiple books… At any rate, this is not a story I will be sad to return to this fall when the sequel is released.   Anya’s story takes place in New York City, in the future.   Around the time you will be old enough to be grandparents. This is a sort of post-apocalyptic, dystopian kind of book in a mild way.   Basically, the United States has self-destructed, and yet life seems to go surprisingly similar to the way we live nowadays.   Except that water and paper are costly and hard to come by.   Chocolate is prohibited.   Caffeine is an illegal drug.   Which is all to say that the setting alone is intriguing. Add to that setting, the fact that Anya is the oldest daughter of the ...
3 comments
Read more

ONE FOR THE MURPHYS by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

copyright date: May 2012 primarily marketed for: intermediate readers (5 th grade and up) I sort of expected One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt to be one of those overly sappy books with unrealistic, sickeningly sweet characters.  However, although the storyline might make it sound sappy, the characters are realistic and dynamic.  After a traumatic incident that lands both she and her mother in the hospital, Carley Connors is taken away and placed in foster care with the Murphy family.  The only life Carley has known is one of put-downs, food scraps, and shopping for clothes in Salvation Army drop boxes.  Until she meets the Murphys.  The Murphys are too good to be true: Julia, the mom, happily makes home-cooked meals for her three boys and firefighting, sports-loving husband.  In fact, Julia isn’t even rattled by Carley’s rough around the edges attitude.  At first, Carley despises the Murphys and the way they make he...
4 comments
Read more