Waiting

Waiting
By Carol Lynch Williams
Simon and Schuster Books For Young Readers, 2012. 335 pgs. Teen fiction

London and her older brother Zach were best friends, but then he died, and now, even several months later, she hasn't even begun to deal with it. Her father is busy, her mother will not even acknowledge London's presence, and no one has acknowledge how--or why--Zach's life is over. London has barely spoken to anyone for months, but when new girl Lili wants to strike up a friendship, and persists at it, and London's former boyfriend (and her brother's good friend) Taylor starts trying to spend time with her again, London starts to come to life a little bit again. However, she also starts to have feelings for Jesse, Lili's brother, and doesn't know how to start out all of the complicated feelings she has. And mixed up in all of this, London, the daughter of a missionary, questions her faith.

This novel in verse kinda has a lot going on, but Williams does it well. I was a little impatient with the unraveling of what happened to Zach, and why London feels so guilty about it (and actually 2/3 of the way through, wondered if I had missed something), but after sticking it out to the end, it did work out pretty well.

There's some discussion of teen sex (not detailed) and a little bit of language (the milder variety), so it's not squeaky clean, but it's milder than a lot of teen books.

3.5 stars.