A Brief Chapter In My Impossible Life by Dana Reinhardt

When you have an “out loud” laugh by page three, you know you are in for a treat. When the book is a first novel, you have to be that much more impressed. This book had a good deal of support in the TAB bookclub last year and I’m happy to say that it has been my favorite book this summer (barring Harry Potter, of course). The folks in this book aren’t just real – they remind me so strongly of the students I work with that you have to remember it is fiction. There is not one moment of “dramatic plot device” here. While one of the major plotlines is predictable, it never takes that Lifetime TV twist I expected. Things progress naturally, very much as they would do in real life. It is a funny book, a thoughtful book, a sad book, but does not have any of the darkness in it which is so prevalent in YA novels these days. It was a complete joy to read, and the first page-turner I had picked up in months. Kudos to Ms. Reinhardt for something fresh and delightful. I look forward to her next work.