- Summary: Sydney has always been in the shadow of her older brother, Peyton. Despite being convicted of hitting a boy on his bike while driving drunk, Peyton continues to be the center of attention due to him now being in prison and separated from them. Sydney is concerned for the boy he hit, but her parents continue to see Peyton as the victim. One day, after a long day at her new public school, she wanders into a local pizzeria and meets a family who changes her life. Layla and Mac immediately accept her into their family, hiring her to work for them and hanging with her in their free time. Sydney quickly falls for Mac. The Chatham family has their own issues, including a daughter who failed in her career in ice skating and a mother suffering from MS. But instead of fighting and falling apart, they grow together, the opposite of Sydney and her family.
- Textbook: Another great example of realistic fiction for the current teen reader, this novel appeals to the reader of romance. Although this novel has darker themes, including drunk driving and life-threatening disease, the Sydney and Mac are just two teenagers who fall in love despite being from different backgrounds and both suffering from lack of self-confidence. Readers can identify with Mac’s self-consciousness due to once being overweight and Sydney’s need to reach out to her brother’s drunk-driving victim in search of peace. Mac’s weight issues is a unique view on body consciousness that isn’t normally addressed because society tends to think only females suffer from body shaming. But Dessen is able to discuss this topic through the use of a character who has learned to lose weight the right way and learns to have a positive body image.
Dessen, S. (2015). Saint Anything: A novel. New York, NY: Viking Books.
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