Roomies: 5.5

This book started off with a great concept, but I think the two authors tries too hard to be edgy about certain topics and it ended up being a turn off for me.The first topic that I felt was forced, somewhat offensive and just all and all handled badly throughout the book is the interracial relationship the Lauren has. I am a product of mutli cultural parents and I am currently in an interracial relationship so I understand the concept well. What I didn't like was that the authors tried to make a HUGE deal about it. The amount they had to keep referring to the boyfriend as black was unnecessary and really took away from the book. I think the authors watched Guess Who's Coming to Dinner way too many times and need to calm down!The next thing that I thought was handled all wrong in the book is the fact that EB's dad was gay. The authors made it seem like EB is the only girl in the world that has had a gay parent. Again the authors wanted this to be a bigger deal then it really was or needed to be.As a whole I like this book but I didn't love it. I don't think I will be reading it agin anytime soon. The characters are likable for the most part and I enjoyed how it was written from both characters perspective. I am not sure if I would really recommend this book to anyone.

At the end of June Elizabeth from New Jersey and Lauren from San Francisco receive their roommate assignment letters from the University of Berkeley. Elizabeth an only child who lives with her divorced mother immediately sends off an email to Lauren to introduce herself. They begin a friendship though emails that also allows them to be sounding boards where they tell each other things they don't tell their friends in person. If Elizabeth didn't send the first email Lauren probably wouldn't have ever sent it because she is so busy taking care of her 5 younger siblings all under the age of 5 or maybe it's under the age of 7.The books covers the excitement of preparing to go off to college and being on your own but also the sadness of leaving best friends and family behind and also leaving your first important love behind.. The chapter are labeled San Francisco and New Jersey so we know which girl is speaking. I think this book will speak to a lot of high school girls going through the similar circumstances. I liked the way each girl would sometimes rewrite her email or sometimes hit send without thinking. I also liked it that the whole book wasn't told by email.I gave this book 3 stars because I think young adult readers will like it but reading it as not a young adult I still had minor quibbles with it.When a chapter shifts to Lauren and focuses on her being a babysitter for her siblings I lose all in interest in the book too sticky for me. In the first email Elizabeth tells Lauren that her mother will buy either a microwave or mini fridge what does Lauren want to bring? Lauren chooses the microwave because it will be easier to get a cheaper one second hand. and after all she comes from a family of eight and can't ask her mother for any money. It's a major issue to get this microwave and I was almost ready to quit reading. After she gets the microwave from Goodwill we learn she has a checking account and also a saving account and wants to buy her father a backyard gas grill because he is such a good dad and he has to cut his own hair. The girl does too much.Elizabeth has the "bad" parents. Her mother dates a married man and her father left because he's gay. And her mother said that he only pretended to like football to hide he was gay. He's been a deadbeat dad since he left and lives now in San Francisco. And there is one place where it says Elizabeth lives in Philadelphia not New Jersey but I do think it will appeal to high school readers.I read the little blurb on amazon that said the authors became friends in 2006 and admired each other's work but I still would like to know more about why they chose to write this book together. The book stands alone but the ending says sequel. Read as a net galley copy..

Read on November 11, 2013Book InfoKindle Edition, 288 pagesExpected publication: December 24th 2013 by Little, Brown Books for Young ReadersASIN B00CO7FI0Eedition language Englishother editions (6)Source:Netgalley EARCBook Buy LinksAMAZONB&NBOOK SYNOPSISIt's time to meet your new roomie.When East Coast native Elizabeth receives her freshman-year roommate assignment, she shoots off an e-mail to coordinate the basics: television, microwave, mini-fridge. That first note to San Franciscan Lauren sparks a series of e-mails that alters the landscape of each girl's summer -- and raises questions about how two girls who are so different will ever share a dorm room.As the countdown to college begins, life at home becomes increasingly complex. With family relationships and childhood friendships strained by change, it suddenly seems that the only people Elizabeth and Lauren can rely on are the complicated new boys in their lives . . . and each other. Even though they've never met.National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr and acclaimed author Tara Altebrando join forces for a novel about growing up, leaving home, and getting that one fateful e-mail that assigns your college roommate.My ThoughtsElizabeth or EB to her friends and Lauren share one thing in common, they are both looking forward to leaving home to attend college now that they have graduated high school. Their lives are very different as Elizabeth is an only child and Lauren has a houseful of younger siblings that she is helping her parents take care of while working to save for college.The way the story uses different POV couched in the emails exchanged between EB and Lauren, interactions with their friends and the girl’s innermost thoughts as their summer countdown to start of college provides the reader with unique insight as well as showing that using technology can be a freeing way to share oneself but at the same time not as satisfying as actual physical one on one communication.The changes both Elizabeth and Lauren go through over the summer include finding out not only do they actually have a lot more in common than they thought at first but that the very differences in their lives give them something to be thankful for, even when they do not feel that way. Having grown up in a household with only one parent and as an only child EB envies the chaotic but love filled home life described by Lauren, while Lauren on the other hand feels at times that she would have been much happier without brothers and sisters.It always amuses me when people feel that someone else has it better than they do, it is only when they are admitted “behind the scenes” that they understand that it is not always true as appearances can certainly be deceiving!Those crazy hazy summer days between high school and college are captured perfectly and both Lauren and Elizabeth's perspectives prior to leaving home are captured eloquently as well.[EArc from Netgalley in exchange for honest review]

Roomies is a YA book exploring the transitional period between leaving school and going to University. Elizabeth and Lauren are two very different people who are allocated a room share. They wonder if they will get on at all, but over a summer of emails they begin to open up, talking about their hopes and fears. I loved how the power of the internet and the opportunities it offers for developing friendships before meeting in person is explored in this book.Roomies captures the teen angst perfectly, the self doubt, the worries about relationships, the uniqueness of this time where you are no longer a child but not quite an adult. Roomies tugged on my heart strings and took me back to that time in my own life. It would be a great read for anyone who is preparing to go to University this Autumn. The strength for me lies in the depth of Lauren and Elizabeth's personalities. They are very much temperamental teens-not always the most likeable, yet always relatable. Because Roomies is written partly in emails and partly in insightful prose, the reader really gets to know the girls, and as they the book progresses I felt more and more empathy towards each of the girls and their insecurities. I really enjoyed Roomies, a modern take on the classic coming of age genre. It has a large dose of friendship, a smattering of relationships, a sprinkling of sex and a whole load of family drama. Overall, a touching and tender read.

Eine tolle, leicht zu lesende Geschichte die mich in eine neue Welt entführt hat. Es war schön sich mit dieser Lektüre wieder an die aufregende Zeit als Teenager zu erinnern.

Not bad, just meh