Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

Sarah Dessen is an author who makes her stories really relatable to young adult women. Her realistic fiction takes you into her own made up world with many different stories to tell.

 In her novel, Lock and Key, Dessen tells the story of Ruby. She had a tough upbringing with her unstable mother and is left without a father. Ruby tells the reader the patterns of her mother’s absences. After one of her mom’s longest trips, she does not return. Ruby continues to live in the house her mom rented for a few more weeks until the landlord realizes she is living alone. Since Ruby is a minor, the landlord calls child services. Cora, Ruby’s older sister, is contacted and Ruby is sent to live with her. 

Cora lives a vastly different life than Ruby does. Cora lives in a giant house and is married to the CEO of Ume.com, the hit social network everyone uses. Ruby has to switch from a huge public school to a small, private college preparatory school. She finds it hard to connect with many of the people at the school and only makes a few friends. It takes Ruby a long time to adjust to this new lavish lifestyle because she was accustomed to making all the money for her and her mom. There are clear signs of tension between the two sisters and eventually the truth comes out regarding why that tension is there. 

This book is about Ruby discovering who she is and it is an exciting journey to take. There are ups and downs and I had trouble putting this book down. It is a great read and I was never bored reading it!

Veronica K.

Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn

From my experience of reading Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn, I would highly recommend this book to others. There are so many qualities that make Breathing Underwater an extremely unique book. In my mind, this book stands out above all other young adult novels that deal with domestic violence at home and also in relationships.

One quality that makes this book a great read is it tells about real life situations. It lets the reader realize even though someone may look like they are seemingly perfect on the outside, it doesn't mean on the inside, behind closed doors, things are still perfect. There are people in the world who mask their feelings and emotions, making others believe they are okay when they're not. People who do hide what they feel do it because their struggles make them feel weak or simply because they do not want others to be involved in their business. Alex Flinn did an incredible job revealing to readers nothing in the world is perfect, even if it seems to be.

Another great quality about Breathing Underwater is readers can really relate to the characters in the book. Yes, it is true some relationships involve violence, but most of the time we do not understand why and no one puts forth the effort to find out. This book gives facts and statistics on how and why relationships can evolve into aggressiveness, guilt and manipulation over a person. Not only can a person who has been in a violent relationship relate to this book, but also others who haven’t can still use this book as a lesson. When reading Breathing Underwater, you will be able to access the mind of the main character, Nick. Readers should benefit from Nick’s mistakes and struggles and learn violence is not a healthy choice.

I enjoyed Breathing Underwater very much. From this book, I’ve learned people do make mistakes. It is just part of being human. But being human, we must learn from our mistakes and make sure those actions won’t be repeated. Although this book is realistic and hurtful, there were moments that were happy and made me smile. I would 100% recommend this book to other readers.

Kathy T.