Before I review the YA romance, After, let the author tell you what the story is about.
 |
| After, YA Romance |
After is a story about the struggles Lauren Walstein, a fifteen-year-old girl, has to go through when her father suddenly has a heart attack and undergoes bypass surgery. In one phone call her life changes completely. Lauren is a character with whom most teens will relate. Her best friend since kindergarten, Joey, is going out with her enemy and they have grown apart. Before the phone call all she thought about was getting a scholarship for softball, and the Mets. Suddenly she must deal with both her father’s illness and being in school. The demands on her from both ends complicate the story. In the middle of all this, she finds she is developing feelings for her best friend that are more than friendly. Is he feeling the same or is he just comforting her? In addition there is Joey’s mean girl friend Amber, who doesn’t appreciate Lauren being in the picture. Will Lauren’s father recover? How will Lauren cope with her new feelings for Joey?
# # # #
Book Review for After by J.Q. Rose
I gave AFTER five stars because I believe so many teen girls will relate to the situations and feelings of the main character in this book. Lauren is 15, a tough age for kids trying to get a handle on life. But added to this, Lauren's father is stricken with a heart attack. Ms. Ehrentreu portrays the family dealing with this sudden life and death situation in their lives very well. The conversations seem so real. I almost felt like I was eaves-dropping in their lives! The author tackles another teen emotion, falling in love, but this one is even more difficult to deal with when she is having romantic feelings for a boy she has known since kindergarten. Big problem. He has a girlfriend and she is definitely NOT friendly with Lauren. The ending is very satisfying, but I'm not going to spoil it for you. You'll enjoy this great read.
About the Author, Barbara Ehrentreu:
Barbara Ehrentreu grew up in Brooklyn and moved to Queens. She has lived and taught in Long Island, Buffalo, NY and Westchester, NY as well as a year in Los Angeles, CA. She has a Masters Degree in Reading and Writing. Currently she is retired from
teaching and living in Stamford, CT with her family. If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor won second prize in Preditors & Editors as Best Young Adult Book for 2011. It was inspired by Paula Danziger for her children's writing workshop at Manhattanville College. Her second book, After, considers what can happen to a teen when her father becomes ill with a heart attack. It is based on her own experiences when her husband had a heart attack and the aftermath of what she and her family experienced. She is preparing the sequel to If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor. Barbara also writes poetry and several of her poems are published in the anthologies, Prompted: An International Collection of Poetry, Beyond the Dark Room, Storm Cycle and Backlit Barbell. She has a blog, Barbara's Meanderings, and she hosts a radio show on Blog Talk Radio, Red River Radio Tales from the Pages once a month.
 |
| YA author, Barbara Ehrentreu |
