This is a very simple read. There isn't too much depth to the story or the characters, but it's enjoyable enough to keep you turning the pages. Full review to come. ( )

Short slice of life coming of age novel that is well written and avoids over complicating or over explaining things. An amazing amount of depth, character and emotion, in such a brief book. ( )

Magoon, K. (2012). 37 things I love. New York: Henry Holt. 218 pp. ISBN: 978-0-8050-9465-7. (Hardcover); $16.99.

Ellis has one person with whom she is able to discuss anything in the whole wide universe—her father. She often sits in his room and tells him in detail all that she is thinking. For the past two years, Ellis’s father has been there for her, the recipient of all her deepest and darkest secrets. And now her mother wants to take that away from her. The timing couldn’t be worse for Ellis because her two closest friends have changed. Abby has been serving up a load of ME ME ME crap and Cora has returned with the announcement that she is a lesbian. Ellis’s mother has enlisted the aide of a new therapist in an attempt to pull the plug on her husband, Ellis’ father who has been in a brain-dead coma for the past two years. Ellis is not ready to let him go, but will she ever be ready? Her flashback memories of her father force the readers to see her inability to let go as something much more powerful and serious than mere teen self-centered behavior. Her mother is a late night radio talk show goddess: “Mom has this deep-throated voice like hot milk on chocolate. Her voice is her job, her life. Her voice is this amazing gift to the world.” (p. 3). Despite this gift, like many teens and their moms, Ellis and her mother cannot seem to find the words to communicate. The fact that her father is brain dead and gone forever cannot compete with Ellis’ memories and recalled conversations. She cannot bear to be without him, even as he is. This decision, however, also involves her mother. Her mother loved her husband and keeping him alive as a mere shell of his former self is not only expensive, but cruel. This conversation is so laden with pain that mother and daughter tend to avoid talking about anything of substance. The strength of this novel is in its finely drawn characters, especially the relationship between Ellis and her mom. However, the minor characters have substance and are fully realized. In addition to the exploration of what constitutes meaningful life, Magoon has readers experiencing the angst of whether our bodies are good enough. Are my breast big enough? Am I attractive? Magoon writes skillfully, allowing readers to see both the humor and the poignancy of these benchmark, developmental events and stages. Obviously the book contains 37 chapters. With just 218 pages, the chapters are very short; readers will fly through this one, especially those readers who adore introspective, character driven novels. Purchase this one for high school libraries.