Review ~ REUNITED, by Hilary Weisman Graham

1 Concert 2000 Miles 3 Ex-Best Friends Alice, Summer, and Tiernan are ex-best friends. Back in middle school, the three girls were inseparable. They were also the number one fans of the rock band Level3. But when the band broke up, so did their friendship. Summer ran with the popular crowd, Tiernan was a rebellious wild-child, and Alice spent high school with her nose buried in books. Now, just as the girls are about to graduate, Level3 announces a one-time-only reunion show. Even though the concert’s 2000 miles away, Alice buys three tickets on impulse. And as it turns out, Summer and Tiernan have their own reasons for wanting to get out of town. Good thing Alice’s graduation gift (a pea-green 1976 VW camper van known as the Pea Pod) is just the vehicle to get them there. But on the long drive cross-country, the girls hit more than a few bumps in the road. Will their friendship get an encore or is the show really over? ~From GoodReads

Three high school graduates. One pea green VW bus. A roadtrip to Austin to see their favorite band, Level3, reunited. REUNITED had all the makings for the exact sort of Contemporary Young Adult story I love.

The girls who make up REUNITED are three very different, distinct girls. Alice is the organizer. She is a sweet, well-meaning but a bit exasperating control freak. Tiernan is the rebel. She's abrasive, infuriating, uses humor to mask emotion, and I completely adored her. Summer is the sweetheart. She's gorgeous and popular, but feels as if she doesn't have a voice. Jealousy, miscommunication and a lie tore their friendship apart. Will close quarters bring them back together, or tear them apart forever?

REUNITED was extremely well-written.  Hilary Wiseman Graham's writing was well-paced and very readable. The narrative was excellent. The changing point of view were easy to navigate. I never had to struggle to keep going.

As far as the story goes, I really enjoyed it. As an adult, I can look back and see so much of myself and my friends in these characters. I have to say, it made me nostalgic and more than a little sad. I appreciate the fact that while there are a couple of instances involving the three and the guys they meet along the way, this book isn't about a girl trying to get a guy. This book is about the Alice, Tiernan, and Summer. Plain and simple. I wish there were more stories like this, about friendship, out there. The only thing I didn't love about the story was the ending. Yes, it was cute and very neat. But after all the girls had been through, it felt like one too many obstacles and then an unrealistic turn of events. This could just be me, being nit picky, but it felt a tad too cutesy. But still, I did smile.

REUNITED is a sweet, endearing and thoughtful book about the struggles of self and friendship. I would enthusiastically recommend it to fans of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series.


Favorite Quote:

"Alice didn't want to over sentimentalize it, but it did seem like a rather strange coincidence that the three of them had wound up at the edge of the very same soccer field where they'd first met and become friends back in the fourth grade. Even stranger was the fact that they'd now spent more time giving closure to a dead squirrel than they had to the death of their five-year friendship." (pg 45, ARC)

Published June 12th 2012 by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers


You can purchase REUNITED at:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Book Depository

Source: Received as part of the SOUTHERN BOOK BLOGGERS ARC Tour.