11 - just listen

it took me too long to discover sarah dessen's books. in fact, i purposefully ignored them because i thought they would be too cheesy and girly. where i got this idea, i have no idea. it took my cousin, joy, telling me that i absolutely HAD to read just listen when it first came out. those of you who know joy, know that she is always right. her leading me in SD's direction was just another example of the always being right thing.

so now, i pretty much worship sarah dessen. not in like a creepy way. just in like a i think we would be fast friends if we ever met way. (she spells her name with an 'H' and loves friday night lights and the office and sephora. AND AND AND she LOVES college basketball! um. hello? me too! and noooooo, i don't know these things because of the whole creepy thing. she blogs pretty consistently.)

back to my point. just listen was my first and probably still my favorite of her books. the music discussions all the way through this book make me think of so many moments from my own life. it came out in paperback this last week, so of course i had to get it to read, which pretty much made for a perfect day at the park on saturday afternoon with my pup and 80 degree weather and the start of browner legs and a touch of pink on my cheeks still today. now, i'm really in a dessen mood, so i'll probably end up rereading her other books over the next month. but, that'll have to wait because i put my 'collection' out in my classroom today and all but ONE of the books disappeared for DEAR time and ALL of the girls who picked them up wanted to keep reading them on their own.

just one more reason sarah dessen rocks.