The whole point of Just Listen is that no single person should have to suffer through their problems all alone. So maybe you're sitting there scratching your chin and thinking that this Annabel Greene character's life sounds hard, but that's not really your problem.
What is Just Listen About and Why Should I Care? And no matter our life experiences, that's something we can all benefit from being reminded of from time to time. Sometimes leaning on other people isn't a burden to them-sometimes it makes you closer than you could have imagined. You don't have to do everything alone, especially if it's hard. She's not the only character who we see grapple with honesty and asking for help in this book either, so as it unfolds we get to see up close the ways in which lives can improve by taking a leap and letting people know what's really going on inside. Annabel's so afraid of being vulnerable, but ultimately realizes that keeping everything inside hurts her even more. The book also explores the ideas of being honest and relying on other people. And because of this, ultimately Just Listen looks at how people dig themselves out of their terrible, horrible, no good, very bad situations-which can be pretty inspiring stuff. As we go through the novel and see the different issues that characters are facing (rape, social isolation, depression, eating disorders, anger issues), we also get to see how they cope with them. You know that phrase what doesn't kill us makes us stronger? While this book definitely heaps on the misery, it also includes a good deal of self-exploration-and while tough, self-exploration is definitely a good thing.Īnnabel is the kind of girl who's always been entirely too nice, putting other people's feelings before her own-and now that's backfired on her. We get to follow Annabel Greene, the protagonist, as she deals with the aftermath of her rape, including social ostracism and family issues.īut even so, it's not a book that's entirely about misery and depression. And Just Listen broaches an arguably touchier subject: rape. She's not going to candy coat a single thing or turn it into a Princess Diaries fairytale-in fact her first published book, That Summer, deals with families breaking apart and infidelity.
Dessen writes in a gritty, relatable style that doesn't shy away from the turmoil of adolescence. Published in 2006, Just Listen follows Dessen's long list of successful young adult novels. If this is true for you, then you should definitely pick up Sarah Dessen's novel Just Listen, because the protagonist, Annabel, is having one of the worst teenage experiences ever. Chances are decent that if you are a teenager or were a teenager (we're looking at a good chunk of you Shmoopsters out there), then you've considered the fact that sometimes being a teenager is just the worst.
0 kommentar(er)
