Review: Waiting For You by Susane Colasanti

Waiting for You

by Susane Colasanti

July 9th 2009 by Viking Juvenile

Hardcover, 288 pages

YA fiction/Romance

from the author's site:

Derek is clearly the boy Marisa has been waiting for, but there's just one problem. He has a girlfriend. Nash, Marisa's neighbor and childhood friend, is totally geeked out, with zero boyfriend potential. So of course Nash wants to take his friendship with Marisa to the next level.

Beyond her boy drama, Marisa is also dealing with overcoming a major problem from her past, a family that's falling apart, and a best friend who won't stop talking to sketchy guys online. Only the anonymous DJ, who has the school hooked on his underground podcasts, seems to get what Marisa's going through. But she has no idea who he is...or does she?

Where was Susane Colasanti when I was in high school? Waiting for You touched me in a way few books have. I can remember feeling the way Marisa feels throughout the story. I remember the constant searching and waiting for "the one".

This book brought me back several years to my own family drama, and seeing similar (though thankfully not identical) events from an outside perspective really helped bring me to a new understanding of things.

I'm normally all about paranormal stories, but there's something to be said about a straight-forward, emotional, coming-of-age story. I can't wait to read more from Susane Colasanti.