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The Beautiful Between Reviewed By Amy Lignor of Bookpleasures.com
- By Amy Lignor
- Published May 17, 2010
- Childrens & Young Adults
Amy Lignor
Reviewer Amy Lignor: Amy is the author of a historical fiction novel entitled The Heart of a Legend, and Mind Made, a work of science fiction. Presently, she is writing an adventure series set in the New York Public Library, as well as a teen fiction series, The Angel Chronicles. She is an avid traveler and has been fortunate to have journeyed across the USA, where she has met the most amazing people, who truly bring life and soul to her books. She lives in the Land of Enchantment (for now) with her gorgeous daughter, Shelby, her wonderful Mom, Mary, and the greatest friend and critic in the entire world - her dog, Reuben
View all articles by Amy Lignor
Author: Alyssa B. Sheinmel
ISBN: 978-0-375-86182-6
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Our tale takes place in a New York City High School that towers above the landscape of Manhattan. In this ten story kingdom, we run into Connelly Sternin - a junior in this strange enchanted land filled with wicked stepmother-like teachers, and a "cool" table in the cafeteria where the royals hold court every lunch hour. The Crown Prince of this world is Jeremy Cole; the son of a wealthy family who earned their money back when New York was just a spot on the map of the world. Jeremy's sister is named Kate. Even though Kate is an underclassman, the people of the high school kingdom flock around her just as much as they do her glorious and handsome brother.
Connelly sees herself as neither the royal court, nor a member of the servants to the king; she falls somehwere in the middle. In fact, Connelly sees herself as Rapunzel in her little fairy tale world; a girl with long beautiful hair trapped in a tower, surrounded by SAT's and college applications that are driving her insane. One day, as Connelly is staring at the anorexic girl across the table from her, Jeremy appears and sits down beside her - offering her his help with physics (which Connelly is having a horrific time with). In that one instant of conversation, Connelly's world suddenly begins to change.
Inviting the prince over to her house on the Upper East Side, Connelly can barely contain her excitement and...confusion at this strange turn of events. Her mother, who wants to find an open door into "high society," is also very exicited to see that Jeremy Cole has appeared in her daughter's life. Over time, Jeremy mentions Connelly's father - a man who passed away when she was only two years old. Connelly barely remembers a thing about him, and her mother refuses to speak about that time in their past. As she and Jeremy spend more and more time studying together, facts about her own past and Jeremy's present begin to combine, and she starts to understand why the coolest boy in the whole world suddenly finds her interesting enough to hang out with. Not only are they hanging out, but he begins to show up at her apartment at 11:00 o'clock every night, having a cigarette outside, and than hailing a cab to go back to his mansion in the sky. Their conversations turn from quiet and uncomfortable, to an outpouring of emotions that neither one knew was coming. As the story unfolds, secrets come to light about Connelly's father - a secret that draws she and Jeremy closer and closer together.
Although the subject matter of this story is well thought out and offers YA's help and support when dealing with the loss of someone they love, the tale is very slow-moving and stagnant in many areas. The relationship between Connelly and Jeremy could have been "flushed out" a bit more, to say the least - offering the reader more of a chance to get to know them...and like them.
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