Love, Life, and the List

by Kasie West

Overview

What do you do when you’ve fallen for your best friend? Funny and romantic, this effervescent story about family, friendship, and finding yourself is perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Jenny Han.

Seventeen-year-old Abby Turner’s summer isn’t going the way she’d planned. She has a not-so-secret but definitely unrequited crush on her best friend, Cooper. She hasn’t been able to manage her mother’s growing issues with anxiety. And now she’s been rejected from an art show because her work “has no heart.” So when she gets another opportunity to show her paintings, Abby isn’t going to take any chances.

Which is where the list comes in.

Abby gives herself one month to do ten things, ranging from face a fear (#3) to learn a stranger’s story (#5) to fall in love (#8). She knows that if she can complete the list, she’ll become the kind of artist she’s always dreamed of being.

But as the deadline approaches, Abby realizes that getting through the list isn’t as straightforward as it seems . . . and that maybe—just maybe—she can’t change her art if she isn’t first willing to change herself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062740458
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	12/18/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	176,843
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Kasie West lives with her family in central California, where the heat tries to kill her with its 115-degree stretches. She graduated from Fresno State University with a BA degree that has nothing to do with writing. Visit her online at www.kasiewest.com.

Editorial Reviews

Caitlin Kelly’s narration captures a wide array of characters in this story of young love. Seventeen-year-old Abby gives herself a month to complete tough things in an effort to infuse emotion into her art. What has she already crossed off? Having her heart broken, due to her unrequited crush on her friend Cooper. As Abby grows emotionally, Kelly’s narration reveals more emotion as well, and her range of character voices astounds. Kelly instills age in Abby’s grandfather’s voice through a gravelly quality and emits confidence in her military dad’s sure and even tone. Stilted dialogue and a predictable premise give way to lively interactions between the characters. Surprising developments will keep listeners engaged to the end as Abby works to develop her art and get over her crush. A.L.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2018 - AudioFile

Caitlin Kelly’s narration captures a wide array of characters in this story of young love. Seventeen-year-old Abby gives herself a month to complete tough things in an effort to infuse emotion into her art. What has she already crossed off? Having her heart broken, due to her unrequited crush on her friend Cooper. As Abby grows emotionally, Kelly’s narration reveals more emotion as well, and her range of character voices astounds. Kelly instills age in Abby’s grandfather’s voice through a gravelly quality and emits confidence in her military dad’s sure and even tone. Stilted dialogue and a predictable premise give way to lively interactions between the characters. Surprising developments will keep listeners engaged to the end as Abby works to develop her art and get over her crush. A.L.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2018 - AudioFile

2017-12-03
A year ago, Abby confessed her love to her best friend, Cooper—and it didn't go well.Abby tried to laugh it off. Each pretends it never happened, but Abby's feelings are unchanged. She's doubly blindsided when her other passion, art, hits a roadblock. Her paintings are rejected for inclusion in an art museum show, deemed technically proficient but lacking in heart. Determined to turn that around, and with family brainstorming support, she creates a to-do list of activities to deepen her emotional expression, enlisting Cooper's intermittent participation. They watch a mountain sunrise, read books outside their comfort zones, audition for a musical, and more. Abby makes friends, including classmate and sculptor Elliot Garcia, and her work shows progress. Abby worries about her mother's agoraphobia; it's worsened during her father's long deployments overseas, especially since the family moved off-base, away from supportive military families. A refreshing departure from teen-literature tropes, Abby's no brainy polymath acing AP English (the book she chooses is A Tale of Two Cities) and destined for Stanford. However, plotting is shaky: subplots go nowhere; outcomes negate what came before. Cooper's friendly, romantic disinterest in Abby feels very real—its explanation and resolution, less so. Most characters are white or appear so by default. Elliot Garcia has dark, curly hair and a Spanish last name but lacks ethnic assignment. Abby's friends Rachel, who's black, and Justin, who's Latinx, are minor characters.Abby's likable, but her romantic passivity and hijacked artistic endeavors send a disempowering message. (Fiction. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews