All You Get Is Me

Gr 9 Up—Many issues are crammed into this coming-of-age novel—the politics of illegal immigration and the rights of migrant farmworkers; dealing with abandonment by a depressed, alcoholic mother; and adjusting to life on an organic farm after growing up in San Francisco—but the heart of this book is a love story. Aurora, 15, and her father witness a car accident in which a Mexican woman illegally in the United States is killed by a reckless driver. Roar's dad, a former human-rights lawyer turned farmer, urges the remaining family to press a civil suit. Fearing his reaction to her blossoming relationship with the son of the woman responsible for the accident, Aurora hides her growing feelings for Forest. A sweet first love unfolds over the course of the summer and culminates in Aurora's tenderly described first sexual experience. The writing is fluid and the plot moves quickly, but it is grounded by descriptions of summer on a vegetable farm. This book should appeal to fans of Sarah Dessen and contemporary romance.—Caroline Tesauro, Radford Public Library, VA