GREAT READS

Keeping the Moon

Sarah Dessen.

The story "Keeping the Moon" by Sarah Dessen is about a girl named Colie who is an overweight, teenaged "loser" when glanced at by the naked eye, although she's really much more than that. Her father has left her and though her mother Kiki loves her, Kiki's weight has gotten in the way of that love as she goes through a mid-life crisis to lose weight. Her mother becomes very determined to lose weight and comes out with an aerobics video that becomes a worldwide rage. Now once overweight Kiki is introduced to the world as thin, beautiful Kiki Sparks. Colie is forced to move all over the place, being made fun of everywhere she goes--scaring her to lose weight. But even after Colie loses 50 pounds, she is still dwelling on how her unhappy childhood impacted her. She is hiding behind uneven, dyed black hair and an awful lip ring that everyone seems to hate.

Then Colie's mother flies to Italy and sends Colie to live with her weird aunt at the beach, and her life starts to change for the better. She starts working at a restaurant and meets Is and Morgan, who are the most beautiful girls she has ever seen. Is is ready to give Colie a make-over, but Colie soon finds out that the beautiful girl inside of her doesn't have to wear make-up to shine. She learns to stick up for herself and fly like the gorgeous butterfly her mother always wanted her to be.

I would recommend this book to girls and women of any age. It's a page-turning summer romance that may actually help and influence you to find yourself and to not hide behind someone you're not. Everyone is beautiful if you just dig inside and find your inner light.

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