Product Description

when Annabel, the youngest of three beautiful sisters, has a bitter falling out with her best friend—the popular and exciting Sophie—she suddenly finds herself isolated and friendless. but then she meets owen—a loner, passionate about music and his weekly radio show, and always determined to tell the truth. And when they develop a friendship, Annabel is not only introduced to new music but is encouraged to listen to her own inner voice. with owen’s help, can Annabel find the courage to speak out about what exactly happened the night her friendship with Sophie came to a screeching halt?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5151 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-28
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up Annabel Greene seemingly had everything: cool friends, close family, good grades, and a part-time modeling career in town. But it all came crashing down, and Annabel has spent the summer in shaky, self-imposed exile. She finds herself dreading the new school term and facing, well, everyone again. The last thing she wants to do is revisit old friendships while the losses are painful, the secrets behind the rifts are almost unbearable. Her solid family seems fragile, too. What happened to cause the stiff silences and palpable resentments between her two older sisters? Why is no one in her loving but determinedly cheerful family talking about her middle sister's eating disorder? Annabel's devastating secret is revealed in bits and snatches, as readers see her go to amazing lengths to avoid confrontation. Caught between wanting to protect her family and her own struggles to face a devastating experience, Annabel finds comfort in an unlikely friendship with the school's most notorious loner. Owen has his own issues with anger, but has learned to control it and helps her realize the dangers of holding in her emotions. Dessen explores the interior and exterior lives of her characters and shows their flaws, humanity, struggles, and incremental successes. This is young adult fiction at its best, delving into the minds of complex, believable teens, bringing them to life, and making readers want to know more about them with each turn of the page. Roxanne Myers Spencer, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 8-11. After being caught with her best friend's Sophie's boyfriend at a summer party, Annabel Greene is starting her junior year alone and ostracized. But what appeared to be infidelity was really attempted rape. Fans of Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak (1999) will find obvious parallels here, including the play on the title, but Dessen spins her own quality tale of a young girl finding her voice, and finding an audience. Annabel's troubles are exacerbated by her family's refusal to acknowledge its problems: middle sister Whitney's severe anorexia or the three sisters' waning interest in modeling. A budding friendship with classmate Owen, a dj at the community radio station who is never without music to drown out the silence, helps Annabel listen to her own heart and risk speaking out honestly. Characterization and dialogue are expertly done, and Owen's anger-management advice and efforts to broaden Annabel's music tastes ("Don't think, or judge. Just listen") strengthen the theme of the story: honesty. Teen girls who meet Dessen for the first time here will be looking for her backlist. Cindy Dobrez
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
This is young adult fiction at its best ...

—School Library Journal

Dessen weaves a sometimes funny, mostly emotional, and very satisfying story.

VOYA

Customer Reviews

great summer read
Sarah Dessen does it again in Just Listen. This book is very hard to put down. It is about a young girl who gets into a huge fight with her best friend who seems to have control of most of the school (popularity). The reader does not know what happened until the end, which makes this book even harder to stop reading. She deals with a lot of her familys' problems like her sisters sickness, her moms depression, her other sister leaving for college, along with her lack of social life at school. The main character, Annabel is a quiet and composed young lady that holds all her feelings safe inside her. Once she is shuned by her friends she meets Owen. This music-obsessed, intimidating loner guy changes everything. He teaches her that letting things (Placeholder!) out is better for you. He becomes close with Annabel but of course, they run into other problems and the story takes many turns from there. I also loved the ending and how everything connected in the end. It not expected or cheesy, it just fits perfectly. It is a definite page turner and i felt like it flowed very well. I finished this 350 page book in 3 days. (which for me is pretty fast) because i couldnt stand not knowing what was going to happen next. I highly recommend this book (along with any other Sarah Dessen book).

not appropriate for pre-teens or young teens
My 12 year old daughter was loaned this book from a friend and asked me (Al's wife) to check it out after she started it because of some foul language. I read the first chapter, last chapter, and skimmed through the others chapters half reading to find the main climax to the mystery of her "rift with her best friend". Throughout the book (just the parts I read) I read so many foul words my daughter already has to hear on the bus and at school...now Dessen is helping young girls think it's normal and OK to use this language...maybe her best friend calling her a b___ch is to make a point...but s___t, f___k, w___e, sl__t, and many others constantly throughout the book are unnecessary. Also when I read the rape relived... less detail is necessary to get the point across. I find it hard to believe that a girl who is brave enough to start a friendship with a new and unfriendly person would keep quiet if that girl's boyfriend raped her and the friend mistook it as her fault and trying to "steal her boyfriend". This could have been a good book for teens to be aware of "date rape" incidents and how to avoid or deal with them... but Dessen sunk to low standards to "shock and awe" young girls with unnecessary details and foul language. Won't recommend this book or any other by this author for my daughter or others.

Even convinced my boyfrriend to indulge
I've been a huge Sarah Dessen fan since I first stumbled across her books in high school. I'm now a 23-year-old editor and still spring to the bookstore whenever I hear she has something new coming out.

"Just Listen" is, to me, one of her absolute best books -- it has everything I look for in a novel: focus on family relationships; a burgeoning love affair; self-discovery and journey; interest in music. Annabel is a very multi-faceted character who speaks openly and honestly about her experiences, and I loved going on this journey with her. I know the plot has been discussed many times here and everywhere, so I won't be redunduant. Suffice it to say that "Just Listen" made me think and re-think about many of the things I once accepted without question. And the musical thread running through and tying Annabel and Owen together was awesome.

I can tell you, too, that I even convinced my boyfriend to pick "Just Listen" up once I was done with it. I could see so many pieces of him in the story, I knew he would relate. And he did! He loved it -- finished it in a matter of days! He works at a bookstore now and recommends it to all of his customers. I find that the most rewarding aspect of all!