Tell Me Three Things
Julie Buxbaum
Delacorte Press, 2016
Paperback, 328 pages
Trigger Warnings: Explicit Language
About the Author: Julie Buxbaum is a Harvard Law School graduate, former lawyer, and New York Times bestselling author. Tell Me Three Things was her debut novel in the young adult genre, previously having written romance books like The Opposite of Love and After You. Her work has been in several publications, including The New York Times, and has been translated into twenty-five different languages. Her latest YA novel, What to Say Next, is available now.
“My eyes fill with tears, though I fight them. I’m not sure why I am crying. Suddenly, everything feels irrevocably broken in that way it can in the middle of the night when you are alone. In the way it can when you are watching your father comfort his new wife. In that way it can when you too are hurting but there’s no one to comfort you.”
Imagine having to move halfway across the country just before the start of your junior year of high school? Not only having to say goodbye to the only place you’ve called home, but also to the friends closest to you. Jessie’s entire world is turned upside down when she has to move from Chicago to LA with her dad’s new wife and son. Moving states and schools is difficult enough, but Jessie is still grieving the death of her mother and has to attend a preparatory school where the students are not the nicest. It’s not until she receives an anonymous email from someone who calls themselves Somebody/Nobody or “SN”, that she finally stops feeling alone and begins to think of LA as a place where she could find happiness again.
Tell Me Three Things is a compelling story that takes readers through the struggles of losing a loved one and having to adjust to an unknown place. Buxbaum does an amazing job at making the main characters feel relatable and genuine. Not only will Tell Me Three Things make you want to cry and laugh, it will also surprise you.
PRR Writer, Michelle Sanchez
