In terms of Jessie’s experience, her life is ruled by standardized testing and anxiety surrounding college admissions, which reflects the realities of growing up in mid 2010s America. Jessie also voices a number of other fears and observations that allude to statistics surrounding remarriage and blending families, such as the fear that a person remarried for money, and that in the aftermath of losing a spouse, men are more likely to struggle to get through day-to-day routines, especially concerning housework, alone. It’s also fairly common for men to run into opposition from friends and family members who believe that they’re moving on and remarrying too quickly, which Dad and Jessie struggle with in their relationship.

It is, however, more common for men to remarry than it is for women, and men tend to do so more quickly. In the past several decades, it’s become slightly less common for people to remarry after losing a spouse (though the likelihood that someone will remarry goes up with age). Buxbaum’s book sounds, reads, breathes, worries, and soars like real adolescents do.Tell Me Three Things centers around Dad’s remarriage after Jessie’s mom dies of cancer. (3) I wish I could tell every teen to read it. “Three Things about this novel: (1) I loved it. But are some mysteries better left unsolved? Jessie can’t help wanting to meet SN in person.

In a leap of faith-or an act of complete desperation-Jessie begins to rely on SN, and SN quickly becomes her lifeline and closest ally. Is it an elaborate hoax? Or can she rely on SN for some much-needed help? Just when she’s thinking about hightailing it back to Chicago, she gets an email from a person calling themselves Somebody/Nobody (SN for short), offering to help her navigate the wilds of Wood Valley High School. It’s been barely two years since her mother’s death, and because her father eloped with a woman he met online, Jessie has been forced to move across the country to live with her stepmonster and her pretentious teenage son. At least, that’s what it feels like during her first week as a junior at her new ultra-intimidating prep school in Los Angeles. Lockhart.Įverything about Jessie is wrong.

What if the person you need the most is someone you’ve never met?įunny and romantic, this tug-at-your-heartstrings contemporary YA debut is perfect for readers of Rainbow Rowell, Jennifer Niven, and E.

Tell me three things by julie buxbaum