{"id":1706,"date":"2015-05-15T09:00:17","date_gmt":"2015-05-15T16:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/?p=1706"},"modified":"2015-06-08T17:45:41","modified_gmt":"2015-06-09T00:45:41","slug":"love-letters-to-the-dead-teen-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2015\/love-letters-to-the-dead-teen-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Love Letters to the Dead — teen review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Review by Hadley, teen reviewer<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Love Letters to the Dead<\/em> by Ava Dellaira<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"five-stars\"<\/p>\n

Laurel switches schools after an unfortunate accident leaves her mother across the country and her sister May buried in the ground and the past. She believes that the best way to move on is to start over in a place where no one knows anything about her. So, as she makes the transition from middle school to high school, from Sandia to West Mesa, she moves on from her old life. Or tries to, anyway.<\/p>\n

As anyone who has ever moved schools can attest, it is hard starting out. She begins sitting alone during lunch in the quad, watching everyone else talk in groups as she struggles to catch up on the\u00a0school\u2019s trends. Then, she receives her first English assignment: write a letter to a dead person. It could be to a once-famous celebrity, an ancient philosopher, anyone, and it could be about anything. She writes her first letter to Kurt Cobain, member of the band Nirvana, and finds out that the assignment is just what she needed to survive her new life. She takes the assignment further, and starts writing letters to numerable celebrities, including Janis Joplin, River Phoenix, and Amelia Earhart. In her works, she details the various occurrences in her everyday life, and eventually, her past and the accident. She begins as an outcast, just trying to find someone to talk to. She finds a friend in a fellow English classmate, Natalie, who introduces her to numerable other people, and together, they find themselves diving into many adult situations. Since Laurel started at the school, she has kept her eye on a mysterious boy who always finds himself on the edge of her social perimeter. Finally, after she is informed that he is another transfer student named Sky\u2014a junior\u2014they meet, and a friendship blossoms from there.<\/p>\n

Through Laurel\u2019s letters, her thoughts and days come to life in a beautifully innovative format for writing. This book honestly took a while for me to become emotionally invested in. The reason for that is because the style of writing is so different, and I was unsure of it\u2014but that\u2019s what makes it great. No other book I have heard of or read consists solely of letters in the place of chapters. It makes this book unique, and adds to the general character of the story. Alongside that, the novel deals with adult situations that teens often find themselves in, making it all the more relatable. The characters are complex, with lots of hidden layers and charm that truly draw a reader in.<\/p>\n

I think all lovers of defied stereotypes and realistic teen fiction should venture out of their comfort zone and try out this style of writing. \u00a0It\u2019s definitely worth a read. 5 stars –Hadley, teen reviewer<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Find the book at our library: \u00a0Love Letters to the Dead<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Review by Hadley, teen reviewer Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira Laurel switches schools after an unfortunate accident leaves her mother across the country and her sister May buried in the ground and the past. She believes that the best way to move on is to start over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":1930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-teen-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/18\/files\/sites\/18\/2015\/05\/loveletters.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ZwbD-rw","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4552,"url":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2018\/midnight-at-the-electric-teen-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":1706,"position":0},"title":"Midnight at the Electric — Teen Review","author":"Teen Blogger","date":"February 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"review by John Chon, age 15 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Midnight at the Electric was an electrifying book. It took me through three different timelines as the main character explores them all through a series of letters she receives. Adri, our protagonist, is chosen to live on Mars with others already there. She is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Teen Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Teen Reviews","link":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/category\/teen-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/18\/files\/sites\/18\/2018\/02\/midnight-at-the-electric.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4838,"url":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2018\/i-will-always-write-back-how-one-letter-changed-two-lives-teen-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":1706,"position":1},"title":"I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives — Teen Review","author":"Teen Blogger","date":"October 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"review by\u00a0Nina Dinan, age 15 I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives by\u00a0Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda, with Liz Welch \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The story of how a middle school, pen pal assignment became a life-changing correspondence and friendship begins with two students, Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda. 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