Between Us and the Moon

Reviewed by: Kate Radke - Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: March 2, 2016

Review

Rebecca Maizel's book "Between Us and the Moon" is a story about Sarah, an astronomy-loving teenager (a soon-to-be Junior in high school) coming of age over the summer. Her boyfriend breaks up with her (basically because he was cheating on her, but he says it's because she doesn't experience things, she just watches them, which really bothers her. She spends her summer on vacation with her family at a touristy beach town. Feeling like she's missing something and constantly in the shadow of her more popular sister, Scarlett, scientist Sarah decides to conduct "the Scarlett Experiment" where she dresses and acts like her sister would to see if it makes a difference. She ends up lying to a nice college guy named Andrew, saying that she's 18 and going to MIT in the fall. They end up in a relationship. Coming of age happens, and in the end she has to reveal that she lied.

Honestly, I found Sarah hard to empathize with and kept getting mad at her for all the terrible decisions she made. It made it hard for me to enjoy the book, especially since Andrew was such a nice guy. Some teens may enjoy it, but I think many will find it frustrating.

Overall Book Score: fair