Book: Laguna Cove
Author: Alyson Noel
Pages: 216
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Reviewed by: Kat (Age 20)
Amazon.com Price: $8.95
Purchase: Here

17-year-old Anne just relocated to Laguna Cove from Connecticut. A star diver at her old school, Anne finds everything about Laguna foreign, especially the obsession with surfing that her new friends share.

There's the while child Lola who's living a double life as the girl she is and the girl her parents want her to be, free-spirited Jade who's desperately trying to help out a friend, the focused and competitive Ellie, the groups star surfer and most importantly there's Chris, the gorgeous guy who teaches Anne how to surf. Anne and Chris instantly connect which only seems to anger Ellie who's been crushing on him forever.

While Anne is instantly accepted by the rest of the group she constantly receives the cold shoulder from Ellie. Will the girls finally come head to head when they both enter the annual Laguna Cove surf competition?

Laguna Cove is a great new novel from the author of Art geeks and prom queens. You can almost feel the salt spray on your face, the isolation of living in a new place and struggling to fit in, not to mention the thrill of first love that Anne and her friends experience.

The great array of characters with different life experiences, personalities and home lives but a common love for surfing adds variety and surprises. Alyson Noel truly captures what it's like to be a teenager struggling to find herself.

A must read!