Miles Between by Mary Pearson

The Miles Between
by Mary E. Pearson
Young Adult Fiction
Due September 2009

This is one of two books that I requested to have sent to me this spring (the other being the sequel to The Hunger Games). I was SO EXCITED when I got it, but I was also a little apprehensive that I wouldn't like it as much as The Adoration of Jenna Fox, Pearson's last novel. The plot is very, very different and so the writing style was probably going to be different as well--and it was. But, actually, I think I liked this one better than Jenna Fox. I really love it when an author does something totally different with each book.

The Miles Between is about Destiny, an almost-seventeen-year-old who has been shuttled from boarding school to boarding school since she was seven. She wakes up on this particular day--October 19th--knowing that it's going to be a bad day. Sure enough, everything seems to go wrong from the start. But then, after a chance meeting with a stranger, things start to look up. She finds herself on a surprise road trip with three of her classmates, and the luck keeps coming.

I loved this book. It has the perfect mix of introspection, flashbacks, suspense, surprise, and emotional tension. You'll find yourself falling in love with all the characters--especially Lucky, a lamb who thinks he's a dog. If you want to read something by Mary Pearson before September, definitely check out The Adoration of Jenna Fox or A Room on Lorelei Street--we have them both at the store in the YA section. : )