A Letter to THE START OF ME AND YOU by Emery Lord

by Becca

THE START OF ME AND YOU
by Emery Lord
Age Range: 12 - 17 years
Grade Level: 7 and up
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens (March 31, 2015)
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It’s been a year since it happened—when Paige Hancock’s first boyfriend died in an accident. After shutting out the world for two years, Paige is finally ready for a second chance at high school . . . and she has a plan. First: Get her old crush, Ryan Chase, to date her—the perfect way to convince everyone she’s back to normal. Next: Join a club—simple, it’s high school after all. But when Ryan’s sweet, nerdy cousin, Max, moves to town and recruits Paige for the Quiz Bowl team (of all things!) her perfect plan is thrown for a serious loop. Will Paige be able to face her fears and finally open herself up to the life she was meant to live?

Dearest The Start of Me and You,

Oh Lordy! I can't even....with you. Like, I just can't. I just....*le sigh* 

*recovers from sighing with happiness*

You are about Paige Hancock, the resident 'girl whose boyfriend died last year', who no longer wants to be recognized by that after a year of receiving looks of despair. So she makes a plan to reinvent herself as the new normal Paige Hancock, and she makes a list, with #1 being "Get her old crush (Ryan Chase) To date her. The list goes on and on and ultimately Paige ends up joining the quiz bowl team for one of her checks on her list, but things go awry when the QB team captain happens to be Ryan Chase's nerdy cousin, Max. 

Seriously, I'm still not sure how to gush over you without sounding like a total weirdo. Let me start with: I LOVE YOUR AUTHOR, EMERY LORD, SO MUCH I WOULD BUY HER GROCERY LISTS. *ahem* Well, now that that's out in the open and everything, let's move on. You're older sister novel, Open Road Summer, blew me away this past spring. I read it in a sitting. You'll be very please to know I did the same with you. You'll be even happier to know that I happened to LOVE you even more. 

Your main character, Paige, was someone I adored reading from. Her little quirks with grammar, the relationship with her Grandmother, her crush on Ryan (we've all been there). I just loved her. Of course, I liked Ryan.....at first. Then, I meet Max and oh boy, was I a goner! He's so sweet and nerdy and adorable and cute and I'm gushing again, aren't I? I just want him as my #1 book boyfriend. He shot to the top of the list after reading you. But I think the thing that I loved even more than anything in you, The Start of Me and You, was the relationships that Paige had with her four best friends. It reminded me kind of what I imagine all the girls in Sex in the City would be like if they were younger. It just filled my heart with so much warmth!

It is now my mission to push you into every single bookish person I know's hands. This will ultimately probably get me called 'the Book Bully' rather than the traditional 'Book Pusher', but whatevs! I'm totes cool with that, because at the end of the day, when everyone has listened to my book bullying ways, they are going to thank me for forcing them to read you. You were fantastic, mesmerizing, brilliant, funny, bittersweet, and I want a movie. Wait, what? Yeah, you are the epitome of a chick flick that I want to see. One that I will laugh at, cry at, rejoice at, feel humbled by, and swoon with every single swoon possible. 

Okay, I'm *le sighing* again.

ALL THE STARS IN THE WORLD EVER MADE,

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