Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Friends Unlikely by Susan Smith Alvis

Wow. Susan Smith Alvis is an amazing author. I absolutely loved Friends Unlikely, and I really hope, that the review will entice many of you!


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Friends Unlikely
Susan Smith Alvis

Amira Press
August 2007
E-book
212 Pages
YA


Abbie Davis is as average as they get. She lives in a tourist town near Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, where people come and go, and she likes that just fine. She has a small tight-knit group of friends, and that’s how she likes and wants to keep it. Juan was her first friend, from 3rd grade. He got her to actually take part in life, as opposed to being the spectator that she was. Then, there’s Davinia St. Clair. Abbie met her in 4th grade. The pretty much just became mutual friends. Next, there’s Carlos Garcia. He’s the hottest guy Abbie’s age, and all of the girls love him, but he has several bad habits, which tend to keep others away from him. Lastly, there’s Rajesh Hussain, or Raj. Raj is Muslim, and moved to Tennessee after September 11th. He was incredibly shy, then. So, Abbie and the other four took him in.

Life’s easy for these five though. Sure, they’ve got dysfunctional families, and they’re in high school. However, they never realized just how easy life was until they all get hit hard. They were all hanging out eating lunch together and swimming one day, when all of a sudden, Raj, hits the ground. It’s up to Abbie, Juan, Carlos, and Davinia to rush him to the emergency room. But, now it’s up to Carlos to spill the beans. Carlos set Raj up with a girl about a year ago on spring break, and that has something to do with why Raj passed out and was rushed to the emergency room. The girl died of AIDS, as it turns out, but not before passing on the deadly disease to Raj…

But while Raj and the rest are trying to cope with his deadly disease, they’ve got other problems. Carlos has recently become addicted to Meth, which has the same fate as AIDS, and there was yet another reason Carlos set Raj up with that girl on spring break…

There is so much to be said about Friends Unlikely, but it would not be enough. Friends Unlikely is in a class by itself. It is absolutely phenomenal. The way this group of close-knit friends battle both AIDS and drug addictions, together, with each other as their support system is so realistic, it’s unreal. Friends Unlikely was an absolutely amazing read, and I recommend this one to anyone, both young and old. It’s a definite tear-jerker, but one you will appreciate. Susan Smith Alvis is in a class by herself. She has created real young adults, with real problems, who battle their lives, the best way they know how. Susan Smith Alvis has written one of the most realistic storylines I’ve seen in a long time.


-Denise Kivett
Rogues and Romance



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Happy Reading!
*Dee*

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Im glad you enjoyed this book as much as you did! It sounds very personal and in depth!