"Since You've Been Gone" by Morgan Matson

I had heard a lot of great things about Morgan Matson's writing. Her books are very popular, and Since You've Been Gone in particular has received a lot of hype. This is the only Morgan Matson book I've read so far. Since You've Been Gone is a contemporary young adult novel. It focuses on the issues which are close to any teenager's heart: friendship, growing up, falling in love, learning more about yourself and making first steps into the big adult world.

The main character - Emily - lives in the shadow of her gorgeous, risk-taking, outgoing and popular best friend Sloane. The school year has ended and Emily is looking forward to spending a great summer with her best friend. However, Sloane and her family mysteriously move away and Emily has no idea whether the move is permanent and has no way of reaching her friend. She then gets a letter in the mail which contains a list of thirteen tasks that Sloane is asking Emily to do. Some of them are completely bazaar sounding (e.g. "hug a Jamie") and others are definitely way outside of Emily's comfort zone ("kiss a stranger"). Emily decides to take up the challenge and complete all the tasks in the hopes that doing all these things will somehow bring her to Sloane. As she works her way down the list, she makes new friends, falls in love and discovers the thrill of finding courage to try new things. I think for the first time, Emily feels like she is living rather than following someone else's lead. She misses Sloane terribly, but I think she is also learning that sometimes being totally dependent on another person is unhealthy. She is discovering how to be independent, what to fill her days with when no one is planning her activities, and in the process learns new things about herself.

I really enjoyed this book. It started out a bit slow, but once I got into it I could not put it down. This will make a great weekend or vacation read. It is sweet with a bit of romance, an ultimate feel-good book.