Waiting for You by Susane Colasanti Book Review

Waiting for You by Susane Colasanti
(Viking, Hardcover, July 2009)
Rating:

Marisa has been in love with Derek for a long time now and the only thing stopping her from telling him is the fact that he has a girlfriend. Nash is Marisa's nerdy next door neighbor and he's in love with her, but she doesn't feel the same way...or does she? And then there is the guy who runs a late night radio show. No one knows who he is, yet he knows just how Marisa is feeling about parents, school, and life. Can she be crushing on a guy she's never even met?

Waiting for You is a poignant look at what high school means for one girl. Marisa is battling with anxiety and depression, parents on the verge of divorce, and the ups and downs of a first relationship. What I enjoyed the most about this book is that it captures the various support systems that we all have—parents and friends—and what happens when these support systems collapse or disappear. Most importantly though, this is a novel about taking charge of your own life. Marisa feels as if she has been waiting her whole life, waiting to fit in, waiting for that special someone. Colasanti deftly shows us that waiting is not always the answer. Sometimes we need to let go of our fears and reach out to people in order to find happiness.