I Heart You, You Haunt Me - Lisa Schroeder

"Girl meets boy.

Girl loses boy.

Girl gets boy back...

...sort of.

Ava can't see him or touch him, unless she's dreaming. She can't hear his voice, except for the faint whispers in her mind. Most would think she'scrazy, but she knows he's here.

Jackson. The boy Ava thought she'd spend the rest of her life with. He's back from the dead, as proof that love truly knows no bounds."

I discovered this book at the signing I went to in Beaverton. I met the author and she was so nice that I wanted to see what her books were like, so I bought one that she very graciously signed for me. It's written in verse, which took me a few pages to get used to, but I liked it. It cut out almost all physical descriptions (people, places, etc) and what you were left with was just dialogue and Ava's emotions, which were very powerful and poignant. And given the storyline, I felt the verse really fit how Ava was thinking. I mean, if I was grieving over my first love, I think my mind would sound very much like hers.

Her obsession with Jackson and her withdrawal from the real world is, in my opinion, very realistic. And while at times I was mad at Jackson's "actions", when I got to the end, it all made sense. I wish she could have written more about Ava at the end, since I wanted to keep reading about how she was doing. That's my only issue with this book - I felt it ended too early. And that's mostly a compliment since the book was so good that I wanted more. Over all, I found it to be a great book, and I look forward to reading her other books. 5/5


I Love You, You Haunt Me

Lisa Schroeder
Simon & Schuster Children
YA Fiction
240 pages
$7.99 - paperback