Fiction Tuesday- Keep Holding On

Finished this book last night (I may or may not have stayed up too late finishing it). It was really good, I was crying in so many different spots. It was a good book for making you see how great you have it/allow you to truly see (if you didn’t know before hand) how people who are bullied at school can go home and get bullied even more and how it all affects them.
The only thing I don’t like is the cover. The cover makes it look like a cutesy teen romance novel, but in reality it is so much more then that. The romance part was very small in the grand scheme of things.-minipsychologist

This is a special book from Susane Colasanti. Its the story of Noelle, who could be anyone you know. The thing is, she doesn't want anyone to really know her.

Perhaps she is in a school where there is more wealth than most. And she and her mother have fallen on to hard times, in the last few years. Of course, she never really knew her real father. But she remembers Lewis who her mother lived with when she was little. Those were happier times. They lived in a nice house. Lewis was a professor. Unfortunately, around middle school, Lewis got sick and later died of cancer. Things changed drastically for her and her mother.



Its a sad story. Yets Noelle is artistic, and she's smitten with a very artistic guy named Julian. Except, she feels he deserves better.

I kept think of Noelle as someone more of a female of color like the beautiful Jessica Sula-ellie

This is a story about self-worth. About how low one's self-esteem will go. Her mother isn't much help. She's neglectful. Its a very painful situation at home. Its possible, Noelle could get free lunches at school, but she doesn't want anyone to notice because she knows she'll be bullied. And Noelle certainly knows who the bullies are at school.

“Love is never guaranteed. Love is a risk we take because we hope it will make us happy.”

—	Susane Colasanti, Keep Holding On

So we follow Noelle's journey her junior year at school. And what starts out as something fun, perhaps secretive with someone turns into something shocking.

"Life would be much easier if fictional boys were real." - keep holding on

The premise of the book reminded me a little of MTV'S Awkward. Yet, on a very serious level.

Although, I feel there are a lot of healthy and well adjusted girls out there who are raised by wonderful single parents that would never be in a situation like Noelle. But Colasanti writes about hope in her book, and I think that's what makes this book important.

I opened the book my mom bought for me a couple minutes ago. This is the acknowledgments in the beginning. I honestly just gained so much respect for this author-prince-of-fools

At the end of the book, she even writes about how high school was for her. She has reached a lot of teens and young adults with her books - SOMETHING LIKE FATE, WHEN IT HAPPENS, WAITING FOR YOU, TAKE ME THERE, and SO MUCH CLOSER.

 Before becoming a full-time author, Susane Colasanti was a high school science teacher for 10 years. Susane has a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a master's degree from New York University. She lives in New York City.

You can connect with Susane at susanecolasanti.com.




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