Don't Ever Change

by M. Beth Bloom

Overview

Eva has always wanted to write a modern classic—one that actually appeals to her generation. The only problem is that she has realized she can't "write what she knows" because she hasn't yet begun to live. So before heading off to college, Eva is determined to get a life worth writing about.

Soon Eva's life encounters a few unexpected plot twists. She becomes a counselor at a nearby summer camp—a job she is completely unqualified for. She starts growing apart from her best friends before they've even left for school. And most surprising of all, she begins to fall for the last guy she would have ever imagined. But no matter the roadblocks, or writer's blocks, it is all up to Eva to figure out how she wants this chapter in her story to end.

Perfect for fans of E. Lockhart, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell, Don't Ever Change is a witty, snarky, and thought-provoking coming-of-age young adult novel about a teen who sets out to write better fiction and, ultimately, discovers the truth about herself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062036896
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	07/07/2015
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
File size:	713 KB
Age Range:	14 Years

About the Author

M. Beth Bloom is a novelist and a screenwriter. Her fiction has appeared in StoryQuarterly and Dave Eggers's Best American Nonrequired Reading series. She is also the author of Drain You. M. Beth lives in Los Angeles.

Editorial Reviews

05/04/2015
Little motivates high school senior Eva other than writing. “Nothing around here inspires me,” she complains when a teacher gently suggests that her writing lacks depth. Although Eva’s classmates and life in general bore her (something that bothers even her closest girlfriends), she determines to listen to his advice, so that her writing will benefit. She signs on to be a camp counselor and approaches this task, and her young charges, with a mixture of bemusement and the desire to transform them into smaller versions of herself; at one point, Eva passes out journals to the girls, who just want to play. The premise leaves the book wide open for self-reference, and Bloom (Drain You) takes advantage of those opportunities (“Even if sometimes I veer pretty close to being an Unlikeable Character, I’m at least aware of that fact,” Eva muses). Even so, Eva’s quizzical, observant, and slightly distant approach to her surroundings tends to sap the story’s momentum as Foster, a sweet fellow counselor and fellow writer, and Eva’s older sister, Courtney, do their best to help Eva shift her judgmental attitude into a more openhearted one. Ages 14–up. (July)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for DON’T EVER CHANGE: “With her trademark snark and wit, Eva narrates a summer unexpectedly full of romance, responsibility, and self-reflection. Bloom has created a multifaceted, often curmudgeonly protagonist who is not always kind or careful, but who is muddling through teenagerdom as best she can.” — ALA Booklist

“Readers will find themselves rooting for Eva as she begins to open up and see other people as more than just potential characters in her stories.” — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

Praise for DRAIN YOU “Bloom debuts with a languid, stylish novel that reads like a love letter to cult vampire flicks like The Lost Boys, the work of Francesca Lia Block, and Southern California in the 1990s.” — Publishers Weekly

“Bloom’s writing style is unique, blending traditional flowery verbiage with irreverent contemporary dialogue. The plot is also a pleasing blend of friendship, romance, and action with a paranormal twist.” — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Readers will find themselves rooting for Eva as she begins to open up and see other people as more than just potential characters in her stories.

Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

Praise for DON’T EVER CHANGE: “With her trademark snark and wit, Eva narrates a summer unexpectedly full of romance, responsibility, and self-reflection. Bloom has created a multifaceted, often curmudgeonly protagonist who is not always kind or careful, but who is muddling through teenagerdom as best she can.

ALA Booklist

05/01/2015
Gr 9 Up—After Eva's English teacher Mr. Roush tells her that she needs to write what she knows, the teen decides to spend the summer between graduating high school and starting college on the other side of the country in Boston. She doesn't feel anything in her life to this point is worth putting on paper, however, and decides to try out other people's experiences. Eva becomes a camp counselor, she goes out with Elliott and considers sleeping with him, and goes out with a friend's ex-boyfriend. Nothing affects Eva like she thinks it would, but she keeps attempting to change herself to find things worth writing about. Through all of these changes, the protagonist drives away her friends and snaps at her family. Eva works hard to control what people think of her, but she makes snap judgments about others. Though told from Eva's first person point of view, she is a hard character to sympathize or empathize with as she struggles to change herself based on how she she's perceived. Her eventual growth doesn't seem to come about organically, but feels tacked on. With the exception of Eva's sister Courtney, the secondary characters are not fully fleshed out. Some references to drinking and sex make this title appropriate for mature teens. VERDICT Not a first purchase.—Natalie Struecker, Rock Island Public Library, IL

School Library Journal

2015-04-01
Socially aloof aspiring writer Eva spends her last summer before college following her new motto to "Walk Through Every Open Door" to gather experiences for writing fodder.Eva's goal of "Making It as a Real Writer" translates to affectations of refinement and scorn for the perceived immaturity of the high school social scene. Confidently smug in her own writing abilities, Eva unflinchingly doles out critiques to her writing classmates like, "There's something missing from this story, and that something is everything," convinced that tackling weighty subjects makes her sophisticated. But after her teacher counsels her to focus her writing on teen experiences, she attends parties, makes out with several boys, and becomes a day-camp counselor. Eva's self-absorbed narration reveals that she often views these experiences as mere cultural anthropology, which makes her obvious misinterpretations of events initially quite humorous. But her vanity eventually weakens her friendships and gets her fired from camp, by which point her refusal to acknowledge her own failings has grown tiresome. Having burned through her scant social capital, Eva might be expected to have an epiphany about the importance of trying to understand other people's perspectives, but the end of the book sees Eva's narcissism largely intact. In Eva's case, the book's title cuts a little too close to home. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews