Lauren Hembree (Children's Literature)
Annabel Green is the girl everyone wants to be. She and her two sisters, successful models in their hometown, and all live happily inside their "glass house" with their parents. All is well until Annabel's mother struggles with the death of her own mother and the realization that her middle daughter, Whitney, is battling anorexia. In addition to dealing with these difficulties at home, Annabel also faces rumors that she slept with her best friend's boyfriend. Readers learn of Annabel's secret in bits and pieces as they follow her through her attempts to steer clear of her confrontation. In the middle of it all, Annabel finds herself befriending the most unlikely recluse in her school, Owen, who helps her find her path in a most unlikely way. Dessen examines the heart and soul of her characters and illustrates their blemishes, humanity, struggles, and accomplishments. She plunges into the intellect of multifaceted adolescents, bringing them off the page as she plays out their story in front of you. 2006, Viking/Penguin, $17.99. Ages 12 up.

Courtney Angermeier (Children's Literature)
Annabel is struggling to pretend everything in her life is okay. She is recovering from a secret sexual assault. She desperately wants to quit her modeling career, but is too afraid to tell her mother, who struggles with depression. Her best friend hates her. Her sister has an eating disorder. And her Dad just wants her to sit down and watch the History Channel with him. She ends up having to eat lunch alone on the wall next to the school pariah who is in anger management classes. The plot sounds like a list of all the things that make YA fiction for girls both tedious and troubling. I was, as you might guess, not looking forward to reading this particular book. How wrong I was, though. The richness of the story, Dressen’s delivery, and Annabel herself were funny, wry, moving, sweet, and powerful. The characters are believable, complex, and engaging. The plot is full of great details, such as a restaurant that specializes in bacon and a skinny minor character who plays “The Attacker” for women’s self defense classes and frequently forgets to remove his helmet during civilian life. Just Listen packs a powerful message that I could not help being moved by. Just Listen, may in fact be a perfect book for its genre--It made me laugh and cry and think. Its message about learning to hear and to speak you own truth is a powerful one for our girls. 2006, Viking/Penguin, $17.99. Ages 13 to 18.

Deborah Taylor (Children's Literature)
Annabel Green is a girl that seems to have it all: looks, an afterschool modeling job, a loving family. Nevertheless, an ugly accusation by her former best friend and her older sister’s eating disorder threaten to unravel her “perfect worlds“ at school and at home. Sarah Dessen has crafted a compelling look at the two most important units in the lives of teen girls: school and families. The interplay of parents who want so desperately for everything to be fine that they turn a blind eye to all the signs is richly realized. The difficult dance of the sisters is also realistically portrayed. Once again, Owen, one of the central characters is a sweet, sensitive male with a love for music that that he uses to help Annabel connect with her authentic self. Dessen manages to create characters that feel as if they could step off the page and into real life. 2006, Viking/Penguin, $17.99. Ages 14 up.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2006 (Vol. 74, No. 5))
An easily digestible tale about a 17-year-old model who, despite her recent back-to-school clothing commercial, isn't really "[t]he girl who has everything." Annabel secretly wants to quit modeling; one of her sisters has an eating disorder; and their mother's past depression makes expressing any unhappiness feel risky. Underneath Annabel's silence is a secret from the previous spring, a secret that astute readers will decode early on. It's the reason she's a social outcast and it makes her cling extra hard to fake cheerfulness. Oddball schoolmate Owen cracks her shield with candor and music, and Annabel learns to speak her own truth. Readers may be disappointed that after so much buildup to the moments of truth-telling (one to her family, one to Owen), we're not privy to the scenes. Despite dark issues, the overall tone is mild. Dessen's characterizations are glib, each metaphor and major point made explicit. Not deep, but absorbing and enjoyable. 2006, Viking, 384p, $17.99. Category: Fiction. Ages 13 up. © 2006 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Claire Rosser (KLIATT Review, March 2006 (Vol. 40, No. 2))
This is a long story that unfolds slowly, which will have a lot of appeal for YAs, especially girls, who won’t want the novel to end. The main character, Annabel, is the youngest of three beautiful sisters who are all successful local models, a pursuit fostered by their mother, who seems to need the task of being their manager. The theme of each sister finding it hard to find her own identity when she is defined as a beautiful object runs throughout the book. As the story opens, Annabel is isolated at school, disturbed about an event that happened in the spring involving her best friend Sophie and Sophie’s boyfriend Will. We don’t find out until near the end of the book what this event was, but we know from the beginning that Sophie has condemned Annabel with the label of “slut.” Instead of confronting Sophie with the truth, Annabel chooses to hold the truth secret, not confiding in anyone. She hates anger and conflict. So imagine how strange it is that her new friend is Owen, who has a local radio station show called “Anger Management.” A romance slowly develops from their friendship, with Owen pushing Annabel to be herself, honestly. This is a high school story, for older YAs, but there is plenty here for younger YAs to enjoy and consider carefully as they mature. There is plenty here for everyone, actually, as the problems of Annabel’s older sisters, especially Whitney, who is bulimic, are part of the story and affect Annabel’s decisions. Dessen has a close relationship with her readers, and two of her previous books, This Lullaby and The Truth about Forever, are highly popular ALA Best Books for YAs. This one will be as well. Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: JS*--Exceptional book, recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2006, Penguin, Viking, 371p., $17.99. Ages 12 to 18.

n/a (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, May 2006 (Vol. 59, No. 9))
Though she stars in a department store commercial as the “girl who has everything,” Annabel Greene is anything but--after being dumped by her best friend, Sophie, and spending the summer in self-imposed isolation, Annabel returns for her sophomore year only to discover that Sophie’s vicious rumors have succeeded in getting Annabel excommunicated from her social circle. The now-friendless Annabel finds herself sitting at lunch with fellow outcast Owen Armstrong, known to Annabel for his suspension for fighting and his ubiquitous iPod; Owen and Annabel eventually strike up an unlikely but intense friendship. Fresh from Anger Management classes, Owen strives always to tell the truth even when it might hurt feelings, while Annabel never speaks up--not about the fact that she’s tired of modeling but doesn’t want to let her mother down, and especially not about what really happened the night Sophie dumped her. Fresh yet familiar characters, the mix of sincerity and self-doubt in Annabel’s narration, and skillfully interwoven subplots (including Annabel’s sister’s eating disorder) combine in an effectively powerful and touching narrative. Owen’s quest to make Annabel appreciate his own “enlightened” musical sensibilities (from sea shanties to esoteric compositions featuring the sound of a dripping faucet) is endearingly geeky, and their eventual romance is all the sweeter for their ultimately incompatible tastes. While the characters grow (Annabel ultimately speaks out about her near-rape by Sophie’s boyfriend), they nevertheless maintain their signature frailties--Owen’s newfound ability to manage his anger doesn’t mean he’s above the occasional relapse. That the relapse involves punching Annabel’s assaulter in the eye is an only slightly guiltily pleasurable conclusion to this complex novel about friendship and the power and limits of honesty. (Reviewed from galleys) Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2006, Viking, 384p, $17.99. Grades 7-12.

Ed Goldberg (VOYA, April 2006 (Vol. 29, No. 1))
High school junior and part-time model Annabel hides her loneliness behind her beautiful face. Her friendship with manipulative, vengeful, but popular Sophie caused a rift with her best friend, Clarke. Now Sophie will not speak to her. What Sophie thought happened between Annabel and Will, Sophie's boyfriend, at last June's end-of-school party was not what really took place, but Annabel feels that she cannot tell anyone the truth. Her sister's anorexia is enough for her family to deal with. Sophie will not listen, and Clarke avoids her. On the first day of school, Annabel sits alone during lunch on the courtyard wall near outcast Owen, who was arrested for beating someone up. Obliviously listening to music every day, Owen soon becomes her friend. He sees past Annabel's fatade, finding the real Annabel and expecting her to live up to her true self. When Sophie's friend Emily, also a model, is accosted by Will, she files charges. Will it force Annabel to come to grips with her past and her present? Dessen's books are engrossing, each one better than its predecessor, and her prose is smooth. Teens will relate to this story about a girl feeling isolated from family and friends. The characters are real-some quirky, some manipulative, some weak, some strong. Annabel's family dynamics will strike a familiar chord with many readers. Music is a major and welcome element in many of this author's works. Dessen weaves a sometimes funny, mostly emotional, and very satisfying story. VOYA CODES: 5Q 5P J S (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Every YA (who reads) was dying to read it yesterday; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2006, Viking, 384p., $17.99. Ages 12 to 18.

Abbe Goldberg, Teen Reviewer (VOYA, April 2006 (Vol. 29, No. 1))
Music brings people together. It is one of the central concepts of Sarah Dessen's new novel, and one any reader could agree with. Her two main characters are on opposite ends of the spectrum of honesty and feeling, but together create a happy medium. Bringing in past characters will draw old fans to this new novel, but everything about this new book-from plot to dialogue-in its own right, will create new Sarah Dessen enthusiasts. VOYA CODES: 4Q 5P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Every YA (who reads) was dying to read it yesterday; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2006, Viking, 384p., $17.99. Ages 12 to 18.