Schroeder, Lisa. 2008. I Heart You, You Haunt Me.Ava's boyfriend Jackson Montgomery has tragically died when the novel, I Heart You, You Haunt Me, opens. Our first glimpse of Ava is at his funeral. We see her grieving; we see her distraught. We feel the rawness and vulnerability of her aloneness, her grief.
The novel is written in verse. And it spans the summer--he died at an end-of-school party in May--when she is most lost. What Ava realizes soon after Jackson's been buried is that he's never really left. She feels him, smells him, hears him, sees him. He is haunting her house and her dreams. And at first, Ava is so relieved to be near him--even if he is just a ghost--that she doesn't want to leave the house, doesn't want to visit with her friends, doesn't want to go out and have your typical summer fun. And part of that is certainly understandable. But her parents and friends sense that something is a bit off with Ava. They just don't know quite what.
Ava has a decision to make about her life, about how she lives it. And Jackson is there to help, or is he?
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
2 comments:
I've only heard of this book once before and the review was so positive I added it to my wish list. I'm interested to know why you only awarded it 2 and a half stars?
It's not that I didn't like the book. I think this is one that *maybe* (all speculation now) teens will enjoy more than adults. It has the angsty tragically separated from true love vibe going for it. And I don't have a problem with angst, even with slightly predictable angst. But it's not going to "wow" me. But it's a nice book.
If I'm being honest though, it was one of those verse novel books where you're not quite sure why the author felt the need to write in verse instead of just prose.
Still, it's a fast read and I think teens will generally speaking appreciate it.
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