Just+listen+review

=__Just Listen__= =Book Review= =By:Tara Rhatigan=

=Just Listen by, Sarah Dessen is I book I think every teenage girl should read. It is her seventh and most recent book published in 2006. It has a story line similar to that of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. The book discuses the issue that you can’t keep all your demons inside forever and sometimes you needs to speak your mind.= =The book begins with sixteen year old Annabel who had what society called “the perfect teenage life”. Until the summer before her junior year when her world came crashing down. After being shaken up by her best friends boyfriends attempt to rape her, she couldn’t even begin find the words to explain to her friend what actually happened. Once her boyfriend exclaims “she threw herself at me”. Annabel enters her new year of high school with no one her best friend turned everyone against her. Her rock solid family is slowly crumbling beneath her feet when her older sister’s eating disorder begins to surface. She decides the only safe way to handle it is to keep it all inside “no one will understand” “no one will just listen” she rants in her head. Going through amazing lengths to avoid confrontation for fear it’ll make things worse.I think that feeling is a common feeling most high school students go through the feeling that no one understands and that no one will listen, and if someone does it’ll lead to a fight and make things worse. So they keep everything inside letting it bottle up and drive them crazy. I think it’s important for people to be able to discuss there feelings and be open about things that happen to them. That’s why I loved this book so much because it was easy to relate to the way Annabel felt.= =The book covered Annabel’s journey to understanding that sometimes you need to talk to someone and it’s not a bad thing. When she befriends Owen and outsider who has learned through anger management how to discuss feelings and supports everything she says and convinces her that honesty always is the best policy. Through out the course of the book Annabel learns that in order to take care of others, you need to take care of yourself first. I recommend this book to others it gives a different clean perspective on a lot of issues and is easy to relate to. Through out the course of the book Annabel learns that in order to take care of others, you need to take care of yourself first. I recommend this book to others it gives a different clean perspective on a lot of issues and is easy to relate to. Through out the course of the book Annabel learns that in order to take care of others, you need to take care of yourself first. I recommend this book to others it gives a different clean perspective on a lot of issues and is easy to relate to. Through out the course of the book Annabel learns that in order to take care of others, you need to take care of yourself first. I recommend this book to others it gives a different clean perspective on a lot of issues and is easy to relate to.=