Keeping the Moon

Colie [which is short for Nicole] has a famous mother who everyone has seen all over the T.V. Colie has done a dramatic change in her life. But she still can't seem to make friends with other people. Now her mom is taking her business elsewhere around Europe and that leaves Colie to spend time with her Aunt Mira. The she gets a job as a waitress and she becomes friends with Isabel and Morgan and the two of them show her love and appreciate life. She has true friends and true love with a boy that she never knew she would like so much.
This novel made me smile a lot. This has to be the most smiliest novel [and yes I know smiliest is not a word] I have ever read by Sarah Dessen. She did a good job. I loved this novel.

I absolutely love Sarah Dessen! Her books are amazing, and really get the point of view of a teenage girl across. This was the last of the 5 of her books that I've read, and I loved it! The main character is a fifteen year old girl named Colie. After loosing 45 and a half pounds on her "recently-slim" mom's new diet plan, Colie finds herself in Colby, North Carolina. There, she is supposed to spend the summer with her Aunt Mira. Colie expects the worst but ends up finding out who she really is, and that even she has the ability to be special. Through the unexpected friendship with Isabel and Morgan, Colie learns that there's more to her than the "used-to-be-fat" and rumored "easy" girl that she has come to be recognized as, as well as the companionship of Norman, artist extrordinar and collector of everything! I sincerely recomned this book to anyone who's ever had or has self-esteem issues, a fan of Dessen, or any girl that wants something to do on a rainy day!

Keeping the Moon is simply magnificent. Colie Sparks, daughter of the famed fitness guru Kiki Sparks, is sent to spend her summer with her aunt Mira. At first, Colie is horrified by her aunt, her neighbor Norman, and the two waitress friends Isabel and Morgan. They all seem so different from the person Colie wants to be. Like all of Sarah Dessen's books, Keeping the Moon is about growing up. But it's more than that, really, and it's more than the simple romance some might think. It's inspirational. It's about finding that strength within you and having confidence in yourself and in others. It's about learning that what people you don't like think about you really doesn't matter. Naturally, Colie ends up with, while maybe not the guy of her dreams, someone who understands her and respects her for who is was, is, and will be. The characters are wonderful. Colie is about as insecure as every girl feels at some time. She's scared, lonely, and unsure of even herself. Norman is quirky, funny, and imaginative. Morgan and Isabel are examples of the best friend we all wish for, radiating self-confidence, comraderie, and love. This book is a perfect example of the saying "short but sweet"!

Keeping The Moon by Sarah Dessen was a very interesting book. Colie Sparks is the main character and her famous mom, Kiki Sparks, is a weight loss trainer and inspiration for fat people. They used to be very fat and Colie was very unpopular, until her mom rear ended another car and the lady gave Colie's mom a job there! But then her mom goes touring in Europe and she has to go stay with her Aunt Mira in North Carolina where she still isn't very popular. There she meets Norman a boy she never thought she would like but in the end they like each other, and Isabel and Morgan two fellow waitresses at the "Last Chance" where Colie got a job. But in the end she is confident and is going out with Norman. This is a great book!! I thought how everything worked out was really interesting!!!

This book was another good one by Sarah Dessen. This book stars Colie, a fifteen year old daughter of world-known weight watcher infomercial queen, Kiki Sparks. Colie has never had it easy. First, she was ridiculed for being fat. So, Colie lost the weight with her mother. Then, Colie was known for being a "slut" which she isn't. Then one summer, Colie is sent to be with her aunt, Mira for the summer while her mother is traveling, promoting herself. There, Colie meets Isabel and Morgan, two waitresses at Last Chance resturant. The two music-loving best friends collect Colie and show her the person she can become...and the person she is and was all along.
This was a very good book, I liked it alot, but I believe that "Someone Like You" was better. If you liked this book, you'll love "Someone Like You."

After I finished reading this book, I found I really didn't like it. The narrator is kind of boring and whiney. The secondary characters however, are a lot stronger than the main character. Isabel, the pretty waitress, is one of Sarah Dessen's best characters ever. She has great lines, a great personality, and is really well drawn. You could picture her character as a real person; she isn't cliched.
The story, especially for a Sarah Dessen novel, is extremely ordinary and obvious. It's been done ten thousand times over. I like Sarah Dessen's books because most of the time they have unusual storylines. This one is just the typical "former fat girl has low self-esteem but learns that loving who you are is true beauty" plot. It also had the typical "father and son don't get along because the son won't go into the family business" storyline with Norman. This book might still have had a chance to be saved if not for the extremely predictable ending where Colie realizes she's fallen for Norman.
The best part of this book is the "Chick Night". It has great descriptions and is really fun and believable (aside from the cheesy part where they dance around singing "I Will Survive").
Sarah Dessen became my favorite author because she didn't write typical young adult books like this one. She favors an unusual story and memorable characters, and writes great depictions. This book, however, while it has awesome description, is strongly lacking in the other areas.

One girl struggles at making friends. Colie is this one girl; she has no friends until her mom sends her to her fat aunt Mari. Then she starts a new beginning.

Colie's mom is a fitness woman on TV. Colie does not really fit in where she used to live, but for the summer she is not where she normally lives. Morgan, Norman, and Isabelle all work together in a dining facility. Norman lives next door from Mari. Colie is gaining friendship between all these people. This novel has friendship, passion, drama, and plenty more.

This novel grabbed me and pulled me in. Friends are the key to life; this is what the novel has shown me. It will change your prospective of a friend and friendship.

-Shaina Lyon

When Colie comes to North Carolina to live with her Aunt Mira for the summer, because her mother, Kiki Sparks, exercise finatic, goes to Europe to tour, Colie thinks it is going to be the same in North Carolina as in her home town, but she has no clue. Colie starts a new life. She ditches her black clothes and horrible reputation to find her true self. This book is beautifully written! Colie thinks her past will haunt her forever but she is simply surprised. Morgan and Isabl, Colie's first true friends, help her to see who she really is. Sure they have rough spots but they "survive." I have to say this book is supurb. I recommend this book to people 12 & up because it deals with more complex problems and words that children may not be yet know.

Fifteen year old Colie believes she is going to have to spend the worst, most depressing summer of her life at her spontaneous, fairly odd Aunt Mira's house while her mother tours Europe doing her weightloss aerobics. How wrong was she.
Colie and her mother Kiki have recently lost very much weight after being teased and taunted by , in my opinion, the worthless souls around them. Those memories haunt her day after day, even while she is fifty pounds lighter and spending a summer at her Aunt Mira's house. She meets unforgettable friends, Isabelle, Morgan, and Norman. They, even without knowing it themselves, touch her heart more than she could eve
r imagine.
This novel was deep and really casued me to think. I believe Sarah Dessen is now my favorite author, and I highly reccomend this to any girl who has not completely found herself. I enjoyed this book very much and I hope you will too!

The book "Keeping the Moon" by Sarah Dessen was the first book I read by the author. After I read this book, I just had to get the other books by her because I loved this one so much. This is what the book is basiclly about....
Colie Sparks is the daughter of famous exercise guru, Kiki Sparks. When her mom is set to go on a tour of Europe, Colie goes to her Aunt Mira's for the summer. When getting there, after one day she dosen't think she will be able to survive the summer ahead of her. However, a run-in with the 2 girls working at the Last Chance Bar & Grill changes her whole summer. Suddenly, Colie finds herself with two great friends and a whole new outlook on life. Not being the most popular person in the world, Colie discovers, with the help of Isabel and Morgan, that she really has the confidence to be who she wants to be, and that she's had it all along.
Go pick up this book and all of Sarah Dessen's other books. You won't be dissapointed!

I loved this book! I recommend this book to anyone who loves to read. Keeping the Moon really makes you think about life. I enjoyed reading about Colie and her fitness trainer mom,Kiki Sparks.I also like reading about her Aunt Mira and her new friends that she made. They are Isabel, Morgan, and Norman. The characters seem so real. I think that teeneagers especially would like it because it has to do with a teenage girl and her life at school, and with other people. This book tells you all the hard times that she went through and how she kept going even though she didn't think she could. I'm sure that most people can relate to this book in a certain way. I really liked this book and I'd definitely read it again!

In the book 'Keeping the moon' Colie Sparks is the daughter of Kiki Sparks a famous work out woman.For the summer she had to stay with her aunt in colby.At first Colie doesn't want to go over there.There she meets a guy named Norman and then when she goes out to get food she meets Morgan and Isabel and then she makes friends with Isabel and Morgan.She starts working with them at last chance.Her aunt's name is Mira Sparks.I like it because it is a good book for ages 12 and up.I wouldn't change anything if I was the author and if I was her I'd make a second book.So it's a great story for ages 12 and up!

In the book 'Keeping the moon' Colie Sparks is the daughter of Kiki Sparks a famous work out woman.For the summer she had to stay with her aunt in colby.At first Colie doesn't want to go over there.There she meets a guy named Norman and then when she goes out to get food she meets Morgan and Isabel and then she makes friends with Isabel and Morgan.She starts working with them at last chance.Her aunt's name is Mira Sparks.I like it because it is a good book for ages 12 and up.I wouldn't change anything if I was the author and if I was her I'd make a second book.So it's a great story for ages 12 and up!

Having gone through much of what Colie went through in this book I have to applaud Sarah Dessen. She captures the voice of an insecure teenage girl to a tee. This book follow Colie's summer at her Aunt's house and after meeting some new people she's able to learn to love and appreciate herself. Very good book. Although I will say that for some reason of all the books by Dessen that I've read the last couple of weeks, this one is my least favorite.

Disappointing.. :( The entire book, I felt like I was waiting for something notable or significant to happen, up until the very end. But nothing really happened. Maybe I just didn't like this because I was in the mood for a book with substance & this doesn't contain much in the way of that. I was honestly bored throughout the majority of this novel and really didn't like most of the characters.

Colie Sparks is sent to Colby, North Carolina, for the summer to stay with her eccentric aunt Mira, while her mother, queen of the anti-fat infomercial, tours Europe, and she expects the worst. Colie has no friends at home, and doesn't expect to find any in Colby. But then she gets a job at a cafe, where fellow waitresses Morgan and Isabel show her her true potential, and it's a real eye-opener. This was my first Sarah Dessen book, and I loved it. It deals with finding yourself, something every teenager can relate to.

Sarah Dessen did an excellent job writing Keeping the Moon. This was possibly the best Sarah Dessen book I have ever read because of its content and how relevant it was to my life. KTM had several decent and important points to make and a decent theme that didn't stay within the expected plot but doesn't fall too far from it. This book basically illiterates a young girl named Collie she was around the age of 15. Collie was overweight and was still feeling the effects after she lost weight. She still has a haunting sensation when she is looked at by other girls. She also wants to try and help others that are going through the same thing that she had experienced for so many years. Her mother "Kiki Sparks" the newest revolution in personal trainers. Collie's mom Katharine was also fat, like mother like daughter I always say and they even had a time in their life called "the fat stages". I found this book to be a good blend of a light hearted plot mixed in with some hardcore emotions in it. Collie was sent to stay with her aunt Mira who also had the overweight gene in her. She was not just overweight though she also had the makings of an artist, not to mention a love of cheap half broken things. I'm a big fan of metaphors so when I noticed this I figured that it had something to do with her life being a broken or incomplete. She doesn't seem to have any friends with the exception of a boy named Norman that lives close by, and her cat, Cat Norman. Norman is a fellow artist that loves to collect useless junk (but don't tell him that). Collie makes only three real friends during her summer in Colby. She met Isabel and Morgan at the restaurant that she eventually worked at, the Last Chance. Isabel and Morgan both had a love for music, it didn't matter what kind of music as long as it was "good" music. Collie met Norman and through Mira. Together they had a strong bond which I would like to think would stay with her and help her through her entire life. I definitely recommend this book to young readers that are whether they are just bored or have a love for reading.

Originally, I did not choose to read the book Keeping the Moon, by Sarah Dessen, I was actually assigned it by my English teacher. Then as I started to read and get to know the characters, I began reading ahead because I was got so into the plot. It is about a very insecure 15-year-old girl, Colie, and her summer in Colby, North Carolina with wacky Aunt Mira, where she ends up finding out who she really is. I think that most people who read Colie's story could relate to it, with the bullying at school and with the feeling of not really knowing who she is inside, which both cause insecurities.

Many of the people in my class claimed that the book was too "girly" for us to read, which was probably mainly due to the fact that the back cover is pink and has flowers on it. But the book itself is not really that girly, even though it does not really have any "boy" things like guns, fights, or fast-paced action. Most teenage guys could relate to it if they were willing to admit it, because they also face social pressure (such as being the correct weight), and things like being labeled (as a whore, or a "hole in one").

One of my favorite things about this book, other than being able to relate to it so well, was the fact that as Colie got to know the characters in the story, their purposes changed and their personalities seemed more deep and real. The other was that there were deeper meanings for many things that you could read into. Some of these were the presence of sunglasses, Mira's note cards, and even the title. This made it an excellent book for class discussions and such.

The only downside of Keeping the Moon was that once you really got to know the characters, the book was over, and you want it to keep going. Other than it, it is a great read, and I highly recommend it to people of all ages.

Hey, guys!

Well, for starters, if you don't really know what this book is about, here is a short synopsis. Keeping the Moon is the story of a girl, Colie Sparks, who has lost her identity, and is trying to find her true self with the help of her friends, Morgan and Isabel. Keeping the Moon has many components, emotional and critical, so it promises to be a good read for someone of any age.

This book screams tons of messages. One of the biggest themes in this book is the theme of friendship. Throughout our lives, we've all experienced the darkness of loneliness. We had that burning feeling in our throat, a sign of tears, just wishing someone was there to guide you through. Colie, the main character, experiences such feelings. Then, two friends help through the pain and the burning. Another big theme in this story is the element of accepting who you really are. All throughout the book, characters of all ages struggle -- or some not at all -- with characteristics that make them stick out in society. Some of the characteristics are an odd, artistic, hippy, fat, gothic, or punk. Also, preppy or snotty. In the end, these struggles or questions are resolved.

After I finished the last page of this book, I felt something really deep inside of me. As I reviewed page after page, chapter after chapter in my head, I felt a really strong message coming to me. This strong sense of meaning made me opinion of this book soar. When you first pick up this book, you don't really think it to be something you think about in later years when it collects dust in your bookcase. I certainly didn't. But as I went on, I saw that I too could relate to what was going on. Sometime in your life, you've felt you needed a friend or that you didn't fit in and wanted to change. This book addresses such things with fun characters, and a deeper meaning.

Keeping the Moon I recommend for anyone who has dealt with these issues. Whoever you are, whatever age, whatever size, Keeping the Moon promises to be a good read.

"Keeping the Moon" by Sarah Dessen was very interesting yet so boring. At times I found myself falling asleep while holding the book, and others when I couldn't put the book down. Almost all of the reviews posted by my English class have stated that "Keeping the Moon" is a "chick flick in book form". I definitely have to agree with this in some instances, but in others I can't. I found out very quickly while reading this story, that if you look deeper than the text, you can find that this book can be related to all ages and genders in some way or another. I'm not saying that every 15 year-old guy, or even girl, that picks up this book is going to love it. I'm just saying that if you are a person that can look deeper than the text on the page, you should enjoy it.

The book is about a girl named Colie that moves to Colby, North Carolina where she encounters so called "new beginnings". When Colie was younger she was overweight, and encountered many problems due to that, mostly mental. When the story begins she has already lost all of her weight, due to her mother, a world-wide known fitness guro. I'm not going to give away the ending and tell all of you what problems she overcomes when she moves to Colby, but I am going to say, expect the expected........

I have to say, the book is very easy to read. I love how the pages are set up because there are very few words on every page, which makes me think I'm getting somewhere in the book because I am turning the pages a whole lot. That was pretty much the only thing that kept me going with this book, besides the fact that I didn't want to fail the class, and because of some creative writing every now and then. All-in-all, this book is good at points, and hard to stay awake through at others. Thus the title, "SO-SO........."

this book is about 15 year old Nicole Spraks (Colie) she is sent to her aunt Mira's house for the summer becasue her mom Ki-Ki Sparks, fitness star, is on tour for the summer. Both Nicole and her mom use to be over weight, but now slim Nicole still has no confadence. with the help of to waitress's she meets, Isabel and Morgan, she finds that it doesn't matter what you look like, just take care of your slef.
I found this book to be dull and boring at times. i dont recomend it.

Colie Sparks would probably the first person on my list characters I could NEVER personally relate to. That's what makes me able to relate to her even more... I have known a few people in my life that are just like her, all the way down to the rumors. I've even been a friend to one of them, and I know that it hurt for there to be so many untrue rumors about them. I felt that I could relate even more to my friends like her because I could get under her skin, and help them realize, like Isabel did for Colie, that they are truly beautiful.

My overall favorite characters were Norman and Isabel. Norman was totally a clone of a friend of mine...the tie-dyed T shirt, long brown hair, hippie style, and artsy, odd personality. It was all too graphic in my mind evey time he was mentioned. He was one of the best characters I have ever met in a book.

Isabel was so outspoken, and she had the beauty of confidence. Colie said she wanted to hate her because she was so pretty, but in the end I felt she deserved her beauty because she had been the not-so-pretty girl in the picture. She had spent so many years being the ugly one that she had earned being beautiful, and I think that was what finally happened to Colie, too. I was glad to have read about such a confident, outgoing character as isabel who was comfortable in her own skin.

Between reading "This Lullaby", "Someone Like You", and "Keeping the Moon", Sarah Dessen has become my favorite author by far. I love her quirky characters and teenage heartache and love stories that almost any teen can relate to. I recommend her books to anyone who enjoys a book that is incredibly easy to breeze through, but somehow becomes her favorite read anyway. Even if you have the highest reading level, these books are great!

In our English class we read Keeping the Moon. It was about a girl, named Colie, who visits her aunt for the summer and during the visit her life changes for the good. I thought that characters we portrayed like a adult thinks of a teenager. That can be good or bad depending on the reader. I thought that the "Last Chance bar" was kind of cheesy but hey people eat cheese! Some people in my class would argue that the book was a "girl book" but if it really were a girl book it could've gone a lot deeper into the personal lives of the girls. I think that guys or girls can read this book and still enjoy it. So maybe the cover says girl, but the inside (A.K.A. the text) says all teenagers. I liked the characters too. Oh golly the one real man in the book Norman, no not the cat but the guy. At first he was a bit weird, wait a bit? no a lot a bit weird. But the added testosterone was a good touch. Still Keeping the Moon is a good book.

I think that if the reader can get a clear picture of the character then the book is written very well. While I was reading I could picture each of the characters. I could really picture Mira's house with all of the little notes and such especially well. Her little run broken house reminded me of my great grandma's house and how some things worked, some worked with a little help, and some things just didn't work at all. I love the beaches of good ol' North Carolina. At the beach house that my family loves to go to there is one good spot in the house where you can see the water perfectly out of the window and the book made me think of that spot in the house. I liked reading Keeping the Moon and hopefully anyone reading this review will go out and get yourself a copy!

When our English teacher told us that we would be reading "Keeping the Moon" I wasn't really jumping for joy, as every other book I had read in an English class had been exceedingly boring; however this one was different. It was enthralling, and I had a lot of trouble keeping from reading ahead. The plot is one that, for me, captures you from the very beginning simply because you can relate to the characters and what they are going through. The book tells the story of 15-year-old Colie who visits her aunt, on the coast of North Carolina, makes friends, and discovers how to love herself and that everything is not perfect, and you have to deal with the things that aren`t.

Everyone goes through the stage of figuring out who you really are and everyone, from one point to another, has low self esteem; and because this book is based on that, I find the book to be very real. It's not only the plot, but it's the characters. The characters are ones that I can think about and say "That character reminds me of my friend". She develops them very well; such as Colie. She doesn't' just wake up one day and she's different; Sarah Dessen didn't rush it, she made Colie change gradually. Sarah Dessen also put a lot of thought into the symbolism and various metaphors in this book. Sunglasses were mentioned a lot in the book. They could be used as a fashion statement or to hide behind. Also, the broken appliances at her aunt's house was Sarah Dessen's way of showing that not everything is perfect but that doesn't mean that you throw it away and get a better one, the other one still works just fine.

This book was thought provoking and a very good read. I would strongly recommend it to anyone who would be interested.

I gave Keeping the Moon three stars because of the context. It was a good book but it seemed like it was aimed more toward girls.

The book was about a girl named Colie who struggled when she was younger because she was fat. A little while after becoming skinny she was sent off to live with her aunt Mira and Colie's life changed in many different ways while living there.

I did like this book, despite it being a chick flick in a book form. I thought that even though it was girly it was easy to read. Once I started to read, I didn't struggle to stay awake.

The words are pretty big so the pages take a shorter amount of time to read, which contributed to me staying awake because I wasn't reading the same page for a long time. I had to read this book for school. Otherwise, I would not have ever even considered this book for myself. The cover really would have turned me away just because it is pink and purple and has flowers on it. If I was to read the back I also wouldn't have read it because the summary also makes the book sound like it is for girls.

An important theme for the book is to not judge a book by its cover, in two ways. First, literally don't judge a book by its cover. I did and after I read it I actually liked it. I'm sure this isn't the only book out there with a girly cover that a guy could like. This theme also can have something to do with people. Colie was judged many times in her life. At first it was mostly when she was fat. Then she changed to being skinny but people still judged her and called her names. They didn't really even know her. So don't judge books by their covers or people by the way they look.

"Keeping the Moon" by: Sarah Dessen

A young girl's mother who is a fitness guru named Kiki Sparks spends a summer in Europe, leaving her daughter named collie who had been through so much in her life, such as name-calling, and weight issues with her rather odd enthusiastic aunt Mira for the summer While there she learns the meaning of things in life and why certain things happen the way they do. I appreciated the book a lot and saw that the true issues were well covered. I found it expressed the true difficulties that a once overweight fifteen year old girl faces in life. The book shows a lot about teenage relationships and how they are handled from different perspectives of the situation.

This book is well constructed and organized. I would probably rate it a 4 or 5 because of how accurate it is. Sarah Dessen is an amazing author and unbelievably talented writer. When she wrote the book she made sure that the thoughts and ideas of the book would flow with each other. Even thought the book was so well constructed I think that there were some parts of the book that were irrelevant to the rest of the book. For example many things are mentioned in the book such as collie's lip ring yet in the book the lip ring only comes up once or twice and it doesn't have much significance. One other thing about the book is that it is addressed to teens and I would address it to female teens because it doesn't cover much about guys and anything about guys, in fact guys are only mention in about three places ion the whole book This book shows how someone can actually help a person that they think they are getting help from. If you are thinking about buying this book for a teenager I would recommend it.

I did not enjoy reading Keeping the Moon for many reasons. One reason is I don't really enjoy most books on teens, and this was one of those books. Another reason is it was hard to read. This was one of those books that you cant no matter how hard you try keep your eyes focused on the text while comprehending it. This book was a lot harder to read, than other books because of this reason, atleast it was for me. The main reason though, is this books plot, and the lack of major events that happened to the character. I think if this book had more major events that affected the main character, then I might really enjoy this book. There were some good things about this book though, and a lot of these good things are the morals this book carries. Keeping the Moon had a lot of morals. These morals have some what teached me a little bit about myslef and the person I am. These morals to me were the best part of the story. I really have learned to always stay true to myself, and what I stand for. These themes are important because these situations can occur in our every day lives, and these themes kind of guide us through what we should do. But the themes can't make the story a good story they can only help. So even though this book did have some good things, I still did not enjoy it. If you are big on themes then this may be a book for you. Or if you enjoy reading teen books, this may also be a good book for you. IF you are neither I recomened not reading it. I read this book because I had to, not because I wanted to. That is why I did not enjoy reading this book, and thats why I rated it 2 stars.

-Ryan S.

The book Keeping the Moon is an attention holding novel that I would fins would not appeal to all reading audiences. If you apply the typical teenage guy stereotype and to how a teenage guy would feel about this book, you would most likely find misunderstanding because they do not live their lives as described in the book. On the other hand, a typical teenage girl might just love this book.

When I first got this book I looked at the cover and thought, "Oh man, this looks like something a girl would read." I would be right about that. The book was on topics that I have only ever known a girl to be concerned about. However, as it was a reading assignment, I was exposed to life of this girl named Colie. There were some things in the book that I did not understand and I feel that if I were of the opposite gender would know much more about. A girl would differently benefit more.

Emotionally, there were times when I wanted to rip this book into pieces because it was nothing like my life. However, there were other times when I was actually a bit anxious to find out what would happen next and would hurry my reading. For a girl, I would say that the whole story would keep you intrigued, but as it was for me, guys will probably find themselves quite bored at times.

This book is well written and is not a complete loss to all those who consider themselves to cool to read a measly girl book. Even though guys, such as I, might not understand this book as well as females, they might still enjoy it and get something out of reading it.

Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen is an awesome book! Colie Sparks is an outcast that has never really fit in. She was once fat and now that she has lost all the weight she faces confidence and self-esteem issues. When Colie goes to Colby, North Carolina everything soon changes.

In Keeping the Moon, there is an underlying theme of new beginnings. Colby was a new beginning for Colie. At home, Colie was known as a "slut." When Colie got to Colby she said, "For the entire trip down I'd imagined myself in Colby as mysterious, different; the dark stranger answering no ones questions. This image was significantly harder to maintain while lugging a Buttmaster in front of the only boy I'd seen in the last year who didn't automatically assume I was a slut." (Dessen 9). At home, Colie doesn't have any friends and for the first time, in Colby, Colie finds a true friendship.

I loved Keeping the Moon! Sarah Dessen is a wonderful author and she really knows how to touch a teenager's heart. The best part about this book is that everybody can relate to a character in the book. I also loved the big headed baby. Keeping the Moon is not only a very real portrayal of a teenager's life, but it is also very humorous and always brought a smile to my face while I was reading it.

Keeping the Moon is a great book and I would recommend it to everybody! Although, some people think that it is a "girl book" or only for teenagers, everyone could relate to this book. Sarah Dessen is a great author and I have already started reading another book she has written.

Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen is an awesome book! Colie Sparks is an outcast that has never really fit in. She was once fat and now that she has lost all the weight she faces confidence and self-esteem issues. When Colie goes to Colby, North Carolina everything soon changes.

In Keeping the Moon, there is an underlying theme of new beginnings. Colby was a new beginning for Colie. At home, Colie was known as a "slut." When Colie got to Colby she said, "For the entire trip down I'd imagined myself in Colby as mysterious, different; the dark stranger answering no ones questions. This image was significantly harder to maintain while lugging a Buttmaster in front of the only boy I'd seen in the last year who didn't automatically assume I was a slut." (Dessen 9). At home, Colie doesn't have any friends and for the first time, in Colby, Colie finds a true friendship.

I loved Keeping the Moon! Sarah Dessen is a wonderful author and she really knows how to touch a teenager's heart. The best part about this book is that everybody can relate to a character in the book. I also loved the big headed baby. Keeping the Moon is not only a very real portrayal of a teenager's life, but it is also very humorous and always brought a smile to my face while I was reading it.

Keeping the Moon is a great book and I would recommend it to everybody! Although, some people think that it is a "girl book" or only for teenagers, everyone could relate to this book. Sarah Dessen is a great author and I have already started reading another book she has written.

Sarah Dessen's, Keeping the Moon was yet another typical teen book. It followed the summer of a girl named Colie who visits Colby, North Carolina and begins to "accept her self." This was the epitome of a teen book; it came with all the ingredients to make a great pity filled, sorrowful, and "finding your self" book. I mean how many more books are going to write on essentially the same overall themes. Even though this book did have many deep and important themes in it such as accepting your self and sticking up for your ideas and beliefs.

It kept my attention for the first few chapters but after I found my self just looking at words, rather than absorbing any meaning. This book had many parts of it which required the reader to "read between the lines", but in some cases I feel that it was just not necessary. It kept coming back to the idea of accepting who you are, but how many more times are we going to have to read that. The title caught my attention and was about the only thing that sparked any interest and motivation to actually follow and track an idea. Don't get me wrong this book is a good read if you want to examine ideas and aspects which may be some what controversial such as the title and obesity.

This novel was also quite predictable, nothing that really caught my attention and made me want to read on and on. Isn't variety the spice of life? In this case I guess not. If you're looking for deep meaning this is your book, but if you're looking for something new I doubt this will satisfy you.

When I first saw this book I got really excited. I was so happy that my class was going to read a girly book. I soon found out the book is about so much more than just shallow girliness. Keeping the Moon is a book that contains life long lesssons that are sure to inspire any reader, and possibly help he or she get through struggles that he or she has.

The book focuses on Colie, a fifteen year old girl, who has to spend an entire summer with her aunt in Colby, Nort Carolina. Over the summer she makes three very close friends who teach her how to believe in herself and have confidence.

I think you will find this story to be very interesting and inspiring. Altough it may seem a little girly on the outside, its contents may be applied to anyone's life. It encourages everyone to be themselves and follow their hearts.

I ecspecially enjoyed reading this book because of the characters' personalities. The characters in the book were multi- dimensional in that you felt like you new them. I definitely got attatched to Colie. Her courage throughout difficult times really helped me understand how having confidence in oneself can totally change one's outlook on life. That lesson has really challenged me to overcome some of my fears and difficulties.

Overall I thought the book to be great and inspiring literature for anyone to read. It has many life long lessons that are important in every day life. I think that if you read this book you will be totally amazed and read it over and over.

This is a perdictable beach reading book. It was highly amusing and I enjoyed myself while reading it, but would I read it again? No. It was the first book in this genra I have read so I can not compare it to anything. I found the main character shallow and anoying. The story line was exsactly as I thought it would be. The saving grace was the scene where the main character and her two friends are dancing to 'first I was afraid I was petrafied I knew I could not live with out you by may side I spent so many nights alone thinken how you did me wrong and now I strong'

Dessen tells a quirky summer story about a girl, Colie, who believes she is to spend the rest of her life in social purgatory, if not social hell.

Colie, though no longer a fat girl, is unable to shake her fat girl identity. Her mother is a "born thin again" evangelist who appears on televisions world-wide giving out weight-loss information and teaching aerobics. With mom on yet another foreign tour, Colie goes to stay with her eccentric but self-reliant artist sister, Mira, who could care less about her weight or what people think about her.

Colie immediately meets the alternative crew who are all about friendship and setting out their own rules. What is strange and yet true is that Colie who has been the butt of conservative dogma that needs to place some people in the trashcan of conformity so that others can feel their best, can't quite let go of conformity. This is one of her lessons for the summer.

Colie's other lesson which she gets from Izzy, a college girl from the take-no-nonsense school of thought, is a lesson about assuming you've got it rather than assuming you don't.

But obstacles have got to be overcome. After all, the legendary Miss. Mean from school, turns up in town and tries to destroy Colie one more time.

Dessen has written a sweet novel that is built on that all too forgotten truth that life can get better.

After reading Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen, which was assigned in my English class, I realized that I could relate to the main character Colie in some ways. The dilemma with Colie was that she had many problems fitting in whether she was thin or obese. Through the characters in this book, it taught the readers some lessons. One of the lessons was that even if someone isn't perfect, they are still functional and useful, which was shown through Mira, Colie's aunt.

Although this book did have a few lessons to teach teens, I thought it was the type of book that was trying to make a point, but didn't successfully reach it. Nothing really stood out to me in this book or made it unique. The storyline isn't original- the girl is depressed about her life, she goes away for the summer not expecting much, but comes back a new person. The only part I truly liked about this book was the different concepts you could come up with about the sunglasses, otherwise it was just another typical teen book.

Altogether, I think this book should be rated a two and a half. It isn't the type of book I would pick up and never put down or be saddened when it was finished. The cover of the book also turned guys heads away from the book. This book is all right for an independent read, but for a class I think something with deeper meaning should be read.

Keeping the Moon is my favorite book of all time, and I read a lot so that is saying a lot. I am one of those people who reads a book in a day and I read and love all genres from young adult-women chick-lit, murder mystery, to classics. I have read all of Dessen's books and while I love them all (she is my favorite author) I love Keeping the Moon the most. It is about a girl named Colie spending the summer with her eccentric aunt at the beach. She learns to love others by first loving herself. It is so inspirational and touching. I read this book about every six months and even after reading it like 6 times, it never gets old! It is a fast easy read that allows you to escape your own life for a bit and fully emerge yourself in the life and happenings in Colby, NC (the setting of the novel.) I would definitely recommend this one to all readers!

The book Keeping the moon is a very heart throbbing book. It gives the reader mixed emotions, at first boring and not interesting but as you read on it gets better. As you read you might like to think about reality and how our society compares with the world in this particular book. Although, I don't feel this book as a great page turner but speaks to all Americans and people all over the world.

I think that it targets not only teenagers but to anyone who thinks that they need to change in order to fit in. This book gives out a strong message about being comfortable in your own skin. It says that people should not be afraid to be who they are. I think that this book should be rated a 3 out of five because it isn't a horrible book but isn't an excellent book either. It is considered an average book for me. Personally, I recently have read a book that has a similar topic, which can be an influence to books and what you think of the meaning 5 star book.

There are many different topics to this book. Many of them call for use of your brain and solve metaphorical sentences. Such as the moon, it was motioned a couple of times in the book.

I would recomend this book to people all over the world. It can teach you many lessons in life and can be a life changing experience.

Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen tells the story of Colie Sparks' summer vacation in a sleepy North Carolina town. It is a classic coming of age story that is set in modern times. Colie used to be the fat girl everyone made fun of. Colie starts the story with telling about her energetic mom, Kiki. Kiki also used to be fat, but lost the weight and became a queen of the aerobic world. When Kiki lost the weight Colie was forced to lose weight right along with her. But losing the weight did not make Colie forget the taunting and abusive remarks from the girls at her many different schools. Losing the weight also did not let the popular girls at school forget Colie, even when she was skinny. As Colie's self-confidence grew smaller and smaller the shell she kept herself in grew undeniably bigger. This book goes way beyond the surface of just living outside the "popular" crowd. It delves deep into the heart of the girls who are mercilessly made fun of for just being alive. The main story line of Colie's confidence is surrounded by other story lines that intertwine together making this book a must read for any girl struggling with self-confidence. Any one who has looked in the mirror and hated what looked back at them should read this book. The pain of not being liked is hard, but the struggle of trying not to care can be even harder as Colie demonstrates in this pivotal novel. So many teenagers today try to hide their real selves, so they can be who others want them to be. Magazines and popular movies tell what the norm should be, and girls (and guys) do anything to be like the norm. Anorexia and Bulimia are two prime examples of the horrible pain people put themselves through to be "beautiful." People sometimes think that being beautiful just means being skinny. For a long time I always thought that if only I could be skinny then everyone would like me, but I'm finding this is not true. I realized from this book that being skinny does not equal beauty. Beauty equals self-confidence and radiance shining from within the person. Beauty is not just the outward appearance, but it is what most people notice first. When Colie lost her weight the "popular" girls at school did not stop making fun of her. They stopped making fun of her for being overweight, but they eventually found something else to make fun of her. The girls making fun of Colie had to find some way to make them feel better about themselves. A lot of times people do not realize that verbal abuse is a sign of the abuser lacking self-confidence. When the abuser lashes out with verbal assaults they can actually feel better about themselves. The abuser tells themselves wonderful words of praise that they could never be as ugly, stupid, fat, whatever is may be as the abused. Colie was saved from her own personal hell when the summer came and she was sent to her aunt in North Carolina. Colie's aunt alone can be a role model for anyone who has doubted their abilities and tried to hide their true selves. Every character in this novel plays an intricate part, and when they are all woven together it is beautiful. The front cover of the book has a picture of a butterfly. The butterfly is a symbol of Colie. She is a caterpillar in the beginning of her life just trying to find her way in life. She continues her life in her shell of fat, and when her fat is gone she doesn't know where to turn. Her summer with her aunt is her cocoon. In the end...well...read the book to find out! There is an extremely pivotal scene in which Colie takes her sunglasses off and really sees herself for the first time. She looks and wonders who the person looking back is. When she finally sees herself and realizes what she is worth, then her self-confidence can start growing. Then comes the task of finally showing down her abusers, who unwittingly show their heads in the North Carolina town. Some people are not as lucky as Colie to find people to help her find herself. Some people can not stand their personal hells and they end it all. They take their own lives. They ask themselves why should they care when no one else cares for them. I think that some people are drowning so deep in their own self-pity that they could not see love even if it hit them in the face. Luckily, Colie is not in this deep and she can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Sarah Dessen is able to take a deep subject and make it beautiful in the character of Colie Sparks. Sarah Dessen uses humor and imagery to get her point across. I found myself laughing out loud at many points in this book. Sarah Dessen's descriptions of the characters and the scenes are nothing less than wonderful. She tells just enough to get the imagination going, while she does not tell too much to smother the mind. I found each and every character coming alive for me. Even the aunt's cat had a cute personality. I could actually feel what each character felt and could understand their actions. Through this book I have realized a lot about my own self-confidence. Sometimes I think I am struggling with a problem all alone, but this book lets me know that I am not alone.

Nicole Sparks, better known as Colie, is not looking forward to spending the summer with her mother's only sister in Colby, North Carolina. Her mother has developed a line of weight loss products and videos and must go to Europe for the summer to promote them. Colie shows up at Aunt Mira's as an insecure, defiant girl who needs to find her way. She makes friends with two older girls who live next door. They get her a job as a waitress in the local café where they both work. She also meets a young, art student who happens to live in her aunt's basement. A wonderful romance blossoms with Norman and the summer that she dreaded turns out to be the best summer of her life. Her new friends help her to look within to find her real strength and identity. Colie finds her own identity and her life will never be the same as a result of this wonderful summer. This would be a great book for students in the 7th through 12th grade. Teachers could use this book to study science, language arts, music, and art, along with relationships focusing on friendship and self esteem.

Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen is a very informative book that has very powerful and important lesson for many teenagers. The main storyline centers on Nicole Sparks, age fifteen, and her mother, KiKi who are both overweight. When KiKi decides (after them both losing the weight) to open and advertise her exercise business by going on a world tour, Nicole has to move from Charlotte to Colby, North Carolina. In Colby Nicole learns many lessons including how friends can help you overcome situations in life. Throughout the book Ms. Dessen includes themes like the importance of new beginnings. She also points out how low self esteem hinders your progress in life. The author emphasizes the importance of setting realistic goals. Throughout the story she introduces characters who make Nicole think seriously about how she can be satisfied with her life.
Overall I believe this book would have attracted primarily girls. However the author's strategies to fight depression and to set your goals could apply to any teenager. My initial rating for the book would have been satisfactory until I had the pleasure to meet the author personally. Her comments and insight about writing this book gave me a greater appreciation for life issues that effect teenagers on a daily basis. This book was very well written and had excellent content. I would recommend Keeping the Moon to teens, especially those who are dealing with low self esteem and need a new beginning. It might seem impossible for a book to provide this type of assistance but the details given and the interesting format could create hope in a reader. Truly for me some of the parts in this book did not apply to me at all but some parts were exactly parallel with my life in terms of new beginnings and how low self esteem can affect you throughout times in life. This book has a good plot that many can relate too!

Even though this book seems as if it were written to explain from a girls point of view how hard it is to be different from everyone and fit in.This book talks about a girl named colie who has changed from being obese to being a skinny what seems like goth.Colie has to Stay with her obese aunt in Colby,North Carolina while her mom Ms. KiKi Sparks is of howing of her exercise routines in Europe.While In Colby Colie gets a job and meets friends who's attitudes seem to change throughout the story,and also they teach her things that are very helpful to help her make it past her summer days in Colby.Also while in Colby, Colie goes through boy like trouble just as normal teenage girls do which lead the reader to think this.Throughout this stroy the characters go through all sorts of issues that females have and show different ways to deal with them each time.I'm not saying it's not a good book because it is written towards females the book is intresting and can get the readers attention to not want to put it down after the first couple of chapters which lead you on a adventure of wondering.

Keeping the Moon is the story of a teenager, Colie, who travels to a small town called Colby to visit her Aunt Mira. She has low expectations for the summer ahead, a terrible reputation back home, a hard life behind her, a famous fitness guru for a mother, and a lip ring that doesn't make matters any better. Little does she know that during her stay at Colby, Colie will "find herself." She will make true friends, stand up for herself, and find comfort in who she really is. Upon her arrival, Colie finds it hard to settle into Aunt Mira's old, house full of broken appliances and unusable furniture. So, to pass the time, she accepts a job from a town restaurant called Last Chance. There she meets Isabel, Morgan, and Nolan. By watching the relationship between Isabel and Morgan, two best friends with opposite personalities, she realizes that she is not the only person with problems and is able to confide her problems in them. Isabel and Morgan show her that she can be pretty both on the outside and the inside and they help her see the unobvious. Does Nolan's sunglass collection shade his quiet, kind personality from those who really deserve to befriend him? Why does Aunt Mira seem to not hear all of the snide comments being said behind her back? How can anyone resist standing up for themselves when their enemy speaks poorly of them? These questions are answered as all of the unique characters, who each contribute so much to the plot, finally give Colie a "second chance" at Last Chance.

PLEASE!!!! Read this before turning this one down. The saying "Don't judge a book by its cover" is o so true. The cover of this book is one that everybody who sees it is going to think chick book and probably blow this one off. With that saidThis book was a book that I would say if you have some free time, maybe a day or two, read this book. If you want to find many hidden meanings and a deep read, skip this one.
Really 2.5 stars.This book was a book many people might find interesting. I found it somewhat interesting. The plot was, as many reviewers before me have said, very predictable. The characters were ok; some were very interesting like Collie's Aunt, who is fascinated with broken things and never fixes them and a guy named Norman who lives in the basement of Collie's Aunt's home. He might turn up as an important character later.
The book contains a lot of foreshadow and symbolism, however these are not symbols that you have to think about to find the meaning, they are usually said some where in the book. The foreshadow extends out side the book to other books that have almost the same story line. The in text foreshadow is strong and almost gives away the part of the story that its is foreshadowing.
If a teacher should comes across this review pondering whether or not to have his/her classes read this book I would say to have them read it, many people would never read a book like this that is very different from books that they might read on their own. [...]

I had just finished Dessen's "The Truth About Forever," one of the best books I have ever read, and thought this one would be equally wonderful. I was disappointed. The plot is weak, the characters are weak, everything about this book is weak and boring. It wasn't an overall failure, just a lot less than I expected. It's strange to think it was written by the same author as "The Truth About Forever" and "This Lullaby," both outstanding books, when this one is so much the opposite.

I have never read a book so amazing! Sarah Dessen has really done it again! This is in my top ten favourite books list, and is one of my faves from this amazing author...Sarah Dessen!
This book is about a Girl- Colie, who has reasently lost weight and is sent away to live with her aunt Mira for the summer. Colie doesn't expect the whole trip to be any better than the place that she is leaving behined, a place full off bad memories and people who thing she is just an oppurtunity.
The message is great and you will feel really heartwarmed reading this, I would definatly read this one again. In conclusion I would just like to give props to Sarah Dessen - you've done it again!!!!

"Keeping the Moon" is a brilliant attempt at a modern fairy tale. Unlike past fairy tales where the characters were frogs, or princesses, "Keeping the Moon" has real identifiable human characters. This book is one of the few fairy tales that has successfully created characters that can be identified with easily, by today's teenage population. The best way to sum up "Keeping the Moon" is to say that it is a cross with The Princess and the Frog, Snow White, Cinderella, and the Princess diaries.

In my opinion Sarah Dessen has created a world in which one can easily get lost reading for hours at a time. However, "Keeping the Moon" has one fault, it has been marketed for one particular audience: young adolescent girls. Just taking a quick look at the cover will show what I mean. Why would any male teenager want to buy a book with the cover covered with pink and flowers? The answer he wouldn't, which is a shame because even though I admit this book is a "girl book" it has many a moral value for both sexes.

I recommend this book to teenagers: both boy and girl. I recommend this book for grade school teachers to get an insight on the trials and tribulations of today's youth. And finally I recommend this book to those who are interested in young teen fiction. So what are you waiting for? Buy the book.

Signed ~ French Greaser Boy with Sunglasses

Check out the full review at Kritters Ramblings

This was surprisingly my first Sarah Dessen read, I have quite a few books of hers on my bookshelf, but had yet to read one, so in the middle of a cold snap, I decided it was the perfect book to curl up with and read in one sitting! I was right!

I thought Keeping the Moon was a really well written book and I enjoyed it a lot...especially for a book we read for school! When I found out that we were reading Keeping the Moon for English class I was really excited because it would be my second time reading the book, and I had really liked it the first time.

Keeping the Moon is about a 15-year-old girl named Colie who is dealing with a lot of self-esteem issues, and how spending a summer in Colby, North Carolina with her unfamiliar Aunt Mira and making some new friends helps her learn how to accept herself. One thing I really like about Keeping the Moon is that it is a book you can just read for fun, but there are also a lot of important themes and life lessons in the text. It is really interesting to follow certain things that keep showing up in the book, such as sunglasses, or Colie's lip ring and interpret what they might mean. It is also really neat to watch how Colie changes over the summer and notice the little things that are actually very important to Colie's journey towards self-acceptance.

I would recommend this book to everyone. Even though it sounds, and looks like a more girly book I think that any teenager would enjoy this book. I think many people would be able to identify with one or more of the characters at some point in the novel.

I gave this book four stars because I really enjoyed reading it. I think that it is mostly written for teens, because it is written about a teenager. The main focus of the story is Colie Sparks. She used to be fat, but once her mother started teaching fitness classes, Colie lost all of her excess fat. She thought that she might fit in more, but she is still the new kid at her school, and never fits in. Over the summer she goes to stay with her somewhat wacky Aunt Mira, and Colie meets many new friends, among which are Isabel and Morgan.

I think that this book is very inspiring. The author does a very good job at portraying how Colie must feel. She does a great job at expressing all of the feelings and emotions Colie is having. it really makes you feel like you are a part of the book. I think that this book is good for teenage boys as well as girls to read, everyone can relate to it in some way. Everyone has probably had some of the same experiences with not fitting in, or not having friends, or being depressed.

Keeping the Moon is very well written. It shows how one teenage girl goes through the different stages of her life, and the changes she goes through along the way. It shows that everyone can change into who they want to be.

Keeping the Moon, by Sarah Dessen was about a girl named Nicole (Colie) went to Colby, North Carolina for the summer. It was an inspirational novel for many teenagers and possible adults. for me this novel was very easy to appreciate and read, because I felt that I could relate to the novel easily. It was very easy to connect with the characters. I liked the fact that the problems and issues were things that would happen in real a real teenage situation. My english class read this book and most of the male readers had said that they thought it was a "girl" book. I can understand why they would think it is a "girl" book, because of the flowers and the color pink on the back. Mrs. Dessen came and spoke wiht our class and said that she didnt direct the book to only females. She didnt really think it was a "girl" book. I thought it was very important that Mrs. Dessen put out the issue of weight loss and self-esteem in her novel. Many male and female teenagers go through those types of problems everyday. I'm sure this novel helped teenahers get self-esteem and/or convidence from some of the advice in the book. Overall, this was an inspirational book for me and i feel it will be the same for other teenagers. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.