Love You Hate You Miss You
Tall, awkward Amy feels unloved by her parents, who are too smitten with each other to pay her any attention. Along with her beautiful, fearless, and free-spirited friend Julia, Amy turns to drinking and casual sex to feel loved. After a devastating car crash leaves Julia dead and Amy only slightly injured, Amy goes into rehab. There, a therapist gives her a journal, which Amy uses to write letters to Julia, each dated with the number of days after Julia’s death. Amy recognizes the privileges of her upper-middle-class life, and both mocks and indulges her angst. Reminiscent of both John Green’s Looking for Alaska (2005) and Davida Wills Hurwin’s A Time for Dancing (1995), Scott examines the complex nature of friendship between teen girls and clearly delineates the fine line between the strong emotions of the title. More predictable than Green and less cathartic than Hurwin, Scott nevertheless offers a satisfying story of an engaging heroine successfully naming and confronting her demons. Grades 9-12. --Debbie Carton