{REVIEW} DEAR CASSIE (PRETTY AMY #2) by LISA BURSTEIN

Series: Pretty Amy #2
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication Date: 3/5/13
Format: eARC
Pages: 352
Source: Received from publisher for review

What if the last place you should fall in love is the first place that you do?

You’d think getting sent to Turning Pines Wilderness Camp for a month-long rehabilitation “retreat” and being forced to re-live it in this journal would be the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.

You’d be wrong.

There’s the reason I was sent to Turning Pines in the first place: I got arrested. On prom night. With my two best friends, who I haven’t talked to since and probably never will again. And then there’s the real reason I was sent here. The thing I can’t talk about with the guy I can’t even think about.

What if the moment you’ve closed yourself off is the moment you start to break open?

But there’s this guy here. Ben. And the more I swear he won’t—he can’t—the deeper under my skin he’s getting. After the thing that happened, I promised I’d never fall for another boy’s lies.

And yet I can’t help but wonder…what if?

Pretty Amy gave us Amy's version of the Prom night from Hell. The night she, Lila, and Cassie lit up, and went down in flames. The consequences of their actions, and how it changed her. Dear Cassie is Cassie's story, but we quickly learn that getting arrested and going to jail was the least of Cassie's problems. That twenty-eight days at a Wilderness Camp may push Cassie beyond her limits, but it may also save her.

At this point, a pattern has been established: Lisa Burstein is brilliant. I was blown away by her talent with Pretty Amy. Her ability to tap into the innermost thoughts of a troubled teenage girl, and bring that to the surface with her beautiful writing, is shocking. That brilliance continued in The Next Forever, in which she bravely writes an authentic young relationship, and only promises forever a day at a time. In Dear Cassie, Burstein has solidified my opinion that any conversation about must-read books for teens must include her books. They are that important.

I say that not only because they are thoughtful, honest, and bold, but also because she offers an alternative to the "perfect" heroine who finds herself in a troublesome situation. Burstein offers the troubled heroine, a girl that we don't often see in Young Adult fiction. I try, so hard, to take myself out of reviews, and I don't always accomplish that. But I could never remove myself from a review of Burstein's books. She writes about the other girl. The girl who swears too much, smokes, kisses too many boys. Not the vulnerable, meek girl who everyone wants to protect, but the vulnerable, off-putting girl with a tough exterior. I was that girl. My friends were that girl. We were Amy, Cassie, and Lila. There are a lot of girls out there and they need books like Burstein's.

As much as I was prepared, Dear Cassie caught me off guard. Cassie came off as very harsh in Pretty Amy. She is harsh. I identified with Amy and did not think I would have that experience with Cassie. I did. Cassie, though very tough, was so very fragile, and it was beautiful and exhausting to get to know her. She is a girl who uses sarcasm as a shield, who uses the word "fuck" like a weapon.

"I would much rather have someone holding me at arm's length than trying against all odds to hold me."

Prom night sucked for Cassie, but is not the worst thing that has happened to her by a long shot. During her stay at camp, through physical and mental challenges, Cassie's tough exterior slowly dissolves until she reveals just how lost and ashamed she truly feels. Through breaking and exposing her vulnerabilities, Cassie unknowingly is being built back up. Stronger.

And there's a boy. Isn't there always? Ben. Ben is attending camp as well, and he immediately annoys and intrigues Cassie. Ben is persistent, and I loved that. But the antagonistic relationship-turned friendship-turned more (?) is not about Ben saving Cassie or vice versa. It is about acceptance, and simply being there beside one another.

As you may guess, Dear Cassie was an intense experience for me. As much as I loved the writing and could have devoured it in one sitting, I had to pace myself. Cassie's intensity was at times too close for comfort, emotionally exhausting. An author that can make you feel that intensely is a treasure. Dear Cassie is a treasure.


Favorite Quote:

  "Come pray with me," Rawe said.
  "I can't," I said, instead of just saying no.
  "You don't have to be religious to pray," she said.
  "But you have to be good." I paused, looking at the orange pinecones that covered the ground. "Deserving," I continued, "and I'm not." I was surprised I'd admitted it out loud. It was one thing to punch myself unitl I couldn't breathe and keep everyone away like I had porcupine needles coming from my skin. It was another thing to say it, especially when I couldn't even write what that really meant yet.  ~eARC, 25%

 
  "Why?" I asked. "Why do you keep coming back for more?"
  "I think I can make you happy," he said, his eyes on the sky. "I also think you're funny as hell."
  "Thanks," I said, "but I'm pretty sure I've never been happy."
  "Exactly," he said, putting one arm behind his head.  ~ eARC, 56% 



Preorder Dear Cassie at:

 

 

The Pretty Amy Series

 

(click on cover to go to GoodReads page)

 

My Reviews of:

Pretty Amy  |  The Next Forever

 

 

About the author:

Lisa Burstein is a tea seller by day and a writer by night. She received her MFA in Fiction from the Inland Northwest Center for Writers at Eastern Washington University and is glad to finally have it be worth more than the paper it was printed on. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her very patient husband, a neurotic dog and two cats.

Connect with Lisa at:

Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Blog | Website

 

 

PRETTY AMY PROM STORIES

Recently, PRETTY AMY author Lisa Burstein and her editor Stacy Cantor Abrams attended the Romantic Times Convention. At the convention, they wore prom dresses chosen by voters and they asked others to share their worst prom stories. (Boy, could I tell a few.)

Lisa and Stacy are now sharing the hilarious results of asking for the worst prom stories. Enjoy!

Blog Tour ~ PRETTY AMY, by Lisa Burstein

Welcome to The Bookish Babe's stop on the PRETTY AMY Blog Tour! For my stop, I have a Q&A with author Lisa Burstein about terribly important things such as favorite comfort foods and television shows...You know, the things you're dying to know about!  And to finish it off, my review of PRETTY AMY. 

You can find the complete tour schedule at Lisa's website.

Q&A with Lisa Burstein

Andrea: Lisa, I know you are a tea seller. I grew up on instant tea (blasphemy!). Can you recommend a delicious tea for a newbie like me?

Lisa: Earl Grey is probably the best place to start :).

Andrea: I'm a foodie. What is your favorite comfort food?

Lisa: Mashed Potatoes. Sometimes I'll have a whole big bowl of them for dinner. Those are the nights my husband makes his own dinner. I say, "mashed potato bowl tonight" and he knows, I'm not cooking.

Andrea: Lol! This reminded me of Carol Kane in License to Drive!

Andrea: Favorite movie from teenage years? Favorite song?

Lisa: Breakfast Club, I was in LOVE with Judd Nelson(who wasn't?). I can't pick one song, but one of my favorite bands was Gun-N-Roses. Appetite for Destruction was my favorite album.

Andrea: I have officially declared you my "pop culture soulmate".

Andrea: What do you like to do to unwind?

Lisa: Read. Surprising right? ;)

Andrea: What tv show is a must-see in your home?

Lisa: Seinfeld, yes in re-runs. Shows on now, me and my husband never miss The Killing.

Andrea: Can you recommend a great book?

Lisa: A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is my ultimate favorite.

Andrea:Can you tell us a little more about the Pretty Amy Project?What inspired you to create it? Lisa: Basically I wanted to provide a safe place where teens who had read PRETTY AMY could share their feelings about the book and how they feel it relates to their lives and their experiences. I am asking them to tell me how they've felt like Amy. How they got over it. How they are getting over it. How they are embracing it. I am inviting them to tell anything they've been too afraid to tell before. I will be creating a blog to showcase the stories, teens can decide whether they want to be anonymous and or have their names listed. I am hoping it will let teen girls know they are not alone. That a lot of people feel what they feel: the desire to belong, to fit in, to have people who understand them. I was a lot like Amy. Just like her I had such a desire to belong, to fit in, to have people who understood me. I wanted that so badly and I guess I never felt like adults understood that. It was most of the reason I wrote PRETTY AMY. If I'd had it when I was in high school I feel like I would have been able to understand my feelings better. I wouldn't have felt so alone. That feeling was something I never admitted to anyone, not even my friends and I wanted to let teens know it's okay to feel lonely even surrounded by friends and family.

Andrea: I can't tell you how happy this project makes me!

**Thanks to Lisa Burstein for taking the time to answer my questions!**

Amy is fine living in the shadows of beautiful Lila and uber-cool Cassie, because at least she’s somewhat beautiful and uber-cool by association. But when their dates stand them up for prom, and the girls take matters into their own hands—earning them a night in jail outfitted in satin, stilettos, and Spanx—Amy discovers even a prom spent in handcuffs might be better than the humiliating “rehabilitation techniques” now filling up her summer. Worse, with Lila and Cassie parentally banned, Amy feels like she has nothing—like she is nothing.
Navigating unlikely alliances with her new coworker, two very different boys, and possibly even her parents, Amy struggles to decide if it’s worth being a best friend when it makes you a public enemy. Bringing readers along on an often hilarious and heartwarming journey, Amy finds that maybe getting a life only happens once you think your life is over.

 
"Unfortunately, I am only myself. I am only Amy Fleischman."(pg1)


Thus begins PRETTY AMY. Amy is lost. Amy is afraid to speak out. Amy is afraid of being lost in the crowd, so she does the only thing she knows to gain attention: She acts bad. She smokes, she drinks, she hangs out with fellow "bad girls" Cassie and Lila. What Amy doesn't realize, though, is that she's digging herself a hole. With each misdeed, with each burned bridge, she's going deeper and deeper. Until the night she, Cassie and Lila cross the line. Without the shadows of Lila and Cassie to hide behind, Amy is forced to face her bad decisions and decide whether the consequences are worth it.

Oh, to be a teenager again. The saying "Youth is wasted on the young" is painfully accurate. Teenagers have such potential. The world is sitting there, just waiting on them to venture into the unknown. But, that's looking at it with hindsight, with all the painful bits removed. Things like self-esteem, self-worth, fitting in, friends, frenemies; they all can be torturous to navigate. So to be put back into that frame of mind, a lost girl, was draining.

I'm fairly certain author Lisa Burstein has Jedi-Mind Skills. Never, in all my *cough* twenty-eight  years of reading have I ever felt quite so exposed. There were moments when Amy was internally pleading with someone to see her, the scared girl behind the facade, that I had to gently set the book down, take forty-five deep breaths, wipe the tears away, then dive back in. It's not necessary to be just like Amy to get her. I wasn't, on the outside, I was an excellent masker of emotions.  But deep down, I was so painfully lost that I could have easily spun out of control. The fact that Burstein was able to bring Amy and her feelings so firmly to life, and put me right back into her situation, is mind-boggling.

I also read this book from the perspective of a mother. I've vowed to myself to learn the lessons I found in PRETTY AMY. Don't be like Amy's mom and dad. It's actually very simple, if you think about it.
PARENTS: Don't rush into accusing, blaming, and punishing. ASK YOUR CHILD QUESTIONS. Ask them if there is something going on inside that makes them act out. Ask, ask, ask. Then hug. Let them know you are there, no matter what.

Although PRETTY AMY was heavier than I originally thought, there were many laughs. Amy's internal dialogue had me smiling. Her observations: on her parents, her therapist, her coworker, her neighbor, her friends were wry and painfully accurate. Her friends, Cassie and Lila, were not in the story as much as I expected. And that was great as far as Lila goes, because that girl was so self-absorbed. I had a friend like Lila and just, ugh. Cassie on the other hand was a riot. I loved that girl and wish she had more book time. But...I hear Cassie's getting her own book! That's a total win. I can't wait to read an entire book from her point-of -view.

 I wish I had PRETTY AMY when I was seventeen years old. I would like to think that I would have read it, and learned something through Amy instead of, well, drinking and smoking and hanging out with bad boys. Maybe this book would have shown me I had worth, besides being the girl who was popular but could still party like a rock star. The best I can do now is pass the story on to my own daughter someday, and a girl I know, right now, who could use some PRETTY AMY.


Favorite Quote:

"I probably should have been scared to smoke that much, but I needed to be annihilated. I had to forget tomorrow, when I would wake in one of three hotel rooms we'd rented, alone in that big bed, my dress crumpled up on the floor like a discarded attempt at a love letter." (pg. 16)

"They would fill me up with their secrets. They would make me feel like my silence was a choice. Like being left over was a choice."  (pg. 228)


Expected publication: May 8th 2012 by Entangled Publishing


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


Source: Received from publisher for review.

TEASER TUESDAY

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along, just do as following:

·Grab your current read
·Open to a random page
·Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
·Be careful not to include any spoilers so as not to ruin the book for others.

Make sure to share the title and the author so other TT participants can add the book to their TBR piles.

Amy is fine living in the shadows of beautiful Lila and uber-cool Cassie, because at least she’s somewhat beautiful and uber-cool by association. But when their dates stand them up for prom, and the girls take matters into their own hands—earning them a night in jail outfitted in satin, stilettos, and Spanx—Amy discovers even a prom spent in handcuffs might be better than the humiliating “rehabilitation techniques” now filling up her summer. Worse, with Lila and Cassie parentally banned, Amy feels like she has nothing—like she is nothing.
Navigating unlikely alliances with her new coworker, two very different boys, and possibly even her parents, Amy struggles to decide if it’s worth being a best friend when it makes you a public enemy. Bringing readers along on an often hilarious and heartwarming journey, Amy finds that maybe getting a life only happens once you think your life is over.

My Teaser ~

"At sixteen, I was booked an appointement with my mother's gynecologist, my great-uncle, Saul. It was very messed up that my mother saw my father's uncle as her gynecologist, but it was even more messed up that at every family holiday I had to sit at that long table and watch him eat with the same hands he would have all over my uterus."  (pg 98)


I loved this book. My review will be up on Thursday!

Expected publication: May 8th 2012 by Entangled Publishing


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


Source: Received from publisher for review.

IN MY MAILBOX, # 36

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme created by Kristi at The Story Siren. It is a great way to put a spotlight on books received during the past week.

Books Received:

FRAGILE, by M. Leighton
PURITY, by Jackson Pearce
PRETTY AMY, by Lisa Burstein
TEMPEST (Tempest, #1) by Julie Cross
MY WICKED GLADIATORS, by Lauren Hawkeye
THE IMMORTAL RULES (Blood of Eden, #1)by Julie Kagawa
WHAT A BOY WANTS, by Nyrae Dawn

Thanks to:

-The super fabulous M. Leighton!
-Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
-Lisa Burstein and Entangled Publishing.
-Mindy at Magical Urban Fantasy Reads.
-Avon Books
-Harlequin Teen

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week!

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's WoW selection is...

Amy is fine living in the shadows of beautiful Lila and uber-cool Cassie, because at least she’s somewhat beautiful and uber-cool by association. But when their dates stand them up for prom, and the girls take matters into their own hands—earning them a night in jail outfitted in satin, stilettos, and Spanx—Amy discovers even a prom spent in handcuffs might be better than the humiliating “rehabilitation techniques” now filling up her summer. Worse, with Lila and Cassie parentally banned, Amy feels like she has nothing—like she is nothing.

Navigating unlikely alliances with her new coworker, two very different boys, and possibly even her parents, Amy struggles to decide if it’s worth being a best friend when it makes you a public enemy. Bringing readers along on an often hilarious and heartwarming journey, Amy finds that maybe getting a life only happens once you think your life is over.
~From GoodReads

Why I'm Waiting ~  It's Contemporary YA. Amy seems like a girl most of us can identify with. And, oh yeah, Prom sucks. At least mine did. But seriously, PRETTY AMY seems awesome. Lucky me, I have an ARC coming my way soon!

Expected publication: May 15th 2012 by Entangled Publishing                     

You can preorder PRETTY AMY at:
Barnes & Noble  |  Book Depository  |  Amazon

Cover Reveal and Excerpt ~ PRETTY AMY, by Lisa Burstein

Hi, guys! I'm starting to feel as if it's not Monday if I don't have another awesome cover reveal from Entangled Publishing! This time, I have a cover, blurb, excerpt and details for an upcoming contest leading to the release of PRETTY AMY. 

Amy is fine living in the shadows of beautiful Lila and uber-cool Cassie, because at least she’s somewhat beautiful and uber-cool by association. But when their dates stand them up for prom, and the girls take matters into their own hands—earning them a night in jail outfitted in satin, stilettos, and Spanx—Amy discovers even a prom spent in handcuffs might be better than the humiliating “rehabilitation techniques” now filling up her summer. Worse, with Lila and Cassie parentally banned, Amy feels like she has nothing—like she is nothing.
Navigating unlikely alliances with her new coworker, two very different boys, and possibly even her parents, Amy struggles to decide if it’s worth being a best friend when it makes you a public enemy. Bringing readers along on an often hilarious and heartwarming journey, Amy finds that maybe getting a life only happens once you think your life is over.

Sounds pretty great, right? I can't wait to read this one. Lucky me, I won an ARC from the author. PLUS, it will qualify for the 2012 Contemporary Young Adult Challenge and the 2012 Debut Author Challenge. Double Win!

So, if like me, you can't wait to read PRETTY AMY, I have an excerpt to share with you.
Enjoy.

I was just about to put out my cigarette and go back inside when I heard a skateboard coming down the street. It sounded like waves, like a conch shell against your ear. That full, empty sound.

Maybe it was Aaron. I conjured up my stupid daydream, the one I used to fill my head when I couldn’t deal with any of the other stuff in there—that he would find me, that he would apologize, that he would tell me that prom night hadn’t been his fault.

The difference this time was that when I looked toward the sound, he really was there.

It was him.

Aaron.

He was skateboarding down the sidewalk like it was made of water, wearing the same loose, worn jeans from his Facebook picture. He carried a backpack, like he might have been coming from the library, but I doubted he ever went to the library.

I lit another cigarette with the end of my last one; any excuse to stay put. Then I remembered I was wearing a suit.

“You got another one of those?” he asked. His eyes were blue. I hadn’t noticed that in his picture.

My hands shook as I gave him a cigarette. He brought a silver-and-black Zippo to his mouth, flipped it open with one hand, lit his cigarette, and slapped it shut. The whole thing took seconds, but it felt like he was doing it in slow motion. “Thanks,” he said.

Maybe he had just stopped to get a cigarette. Maybe it had nothing to do with me.

It probably had nothing to do with me.

“I know you,” he said. “Where do I know you from?”

I couldn’t tell him. Telling him that he’d stood me up for my own prom would have been way too embarrassing. It would tell him that I still cared enough to remember.

“I’m friends with Lila and Cassie,” I said, wishing that my hair wasn’t pulled back in a headband like I was a nun.

“What are you all dressed up for?” he asked.

Of course he didn’t know me. If he had, he would have known that I’d just come from court and that I was trying to do everything I could to forget it.

“I work here,” I said, thinking fast. “I’m supposed to be a librarian.”

“You don’t have to lie,” he said, laughing. “I’m Aaron.”

“Amy,” I said, waving hello with the cigarette in my hand.

He smiled. “Though you do make a cute librarian.”

I tried to keep myself from coughing. “This suit sucks,” I said. It seemed cooler than saying thank you. It seemed cooler than getting all squishy over what he said, even though that was how I felt.

I looked at his skateboard. “You wanna try it out?” he asked.

The deck had a mural of blue sky and white-capped mountains hand-painted on it. The wheels were covered with stop-motion birds, so that when they spun it must have looked like the birds were flying.

There was more to this boy. More that I wanted to know.

“I guess I could,” I said, but then I remembered my mother. She would come looking for me soon.

I shook my head. “I should go.”

“You got a cell phone?” he asked.

“Not that I’m allowed to use anymore.”

“Parents,” he said. He pulled a sketchbook from his backpack. Maybe he had painted that beautiful mural. He ripped out a piece of paper, wrote something down, and handed it to me.

It was his phone number.

I tried not to act surprised, tried to act like boys gave me their numbers all the time, especially when I hadn’t asked for them.

“See you around, Amy,” he said. He dropped the skateboard next to him. It landed perfectly on its wheels like a cat would on its legs.

As he skated away, I looked at his number; the paper was as soft as fabric. I folded it smaller and smaller and hid it in my bra. Maybe he hadn’t said what I wanted him to say, but he had found me.

He had found me.

Are you convinced you need to read PRETTY AMY yet?

You can preorder PRETTY AMY at:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble

Now the details for the contest:
Entangled Publishing will be hosting a Worst Prom Photo contest in the weeks leading up to AMY's release on May 15. So make sure to dust off your old prom photos—the more tulle, bows, and big hair the better!—and watch Lisa's site, http://www.lisaburstein.com, for details on how to submit/enter to win a beauty package. Lisa was even brave/awesome enough to share her own prom picture with us.

Beware: Lisa's date's hair...well, I'll let the picture speak for itself.

Lisa Burstein is a tea seller by day and a writer by night. She wrote her first story when she was in second grade. It was a Thanksgiving tale from the point of view of the turkey from freezer to oven to plate. It was scandalous.

She was a lot like Amy when she was in high school.

She is still a lot like Amy.

You can find Lisa Burstein at:

Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Website