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5,441 ratings,
4.23
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published
April 6th 2006
by Viking Juvenile
binding
Hardcover, 384 pages
characters
setting
The United States
isbn
0670061050
(isbn13: 9780670061051)
description
Last year, Annabel was "the girl who has everything; at least that's the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf 's Department Stor...more
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avg 4.23
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com
Up until now, THE TRUTH ABOUT FOREVER has always been my favorite Sarah Dessen book. Now that I've read JUST LISTEN, however, I think there's a tie! The characters of this latest release are so honestly real, their dialogue perfectly placed, that you can't help but be pulled into the life and times of Annabel Greene.
Of course everyone thinks that Annabel has the perfect life. She's a model who has been in television commercials, in prin...more
Up until now, THE TRUTH ABOUT FOREVER has always been my favorite Sarah Dessen book. Now that I've read JUST LISTEN, however, I think there's a tie! The characters of this latest release are so honestly real, their dialogue perfectly placed, that you can't help but be pulled into the life and times of Annabel Greene.
Of course everyone thinks that Annabel has the perfect life. She's a model who has been in television commercials, in prin...more
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(8 people liked it)
2 comments
Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
junior high schoolers, their teachers.
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(6 people liked it)
1 comment
Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
Fans of "Speak"
Annabel Green lives in a glass house - literally. But even inside of the glass house that her father built, she realizes that it is easy to hide secrets. It is easy to hide the fact that her mother has become a different person since her grandmother’s death. That her oldest sister has moved away, leaving a gaping hole in the family.
It is easy to hide the fact that her other sister is suffering from an eating disorder that her parents choose to dismiss until it’s almost too lat...more
It is easy to hide the fact that her other sister is suffering from an eating disorder that her parents choose to dismiss until it’s almost too lat...more
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Am I the only person who is tired of Sarah Dessen?
I loved the first book of hers I read, Someone Like You, but unfortunately it seems like the more books of hers I read, the more formulaic her writing becomes.
It seems like every novel she writes follows this structure:
1) Girl (with VERY uncommon name) is unhappy about something in her life
2) Girl with very uncommon name meets BOY with very uncommon name
3) Girl and Boy decide to date
4) Big major conflict in sto...more
I loved the first book of hers I read, Someone Like You, but unfortunately it seems like the more books of hers I read, the more formulaic her writing becomes.
It seems like every novel she writes follows this structure:
1) Girl (with VERY uncommon name) is unhappy about something in her life
2) Girl with very uncommon name meets BOY with very uncommon name
3) Girl and Boy decide to date
4) Big major conflict in sto...more
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Annabel is a teenage girl that is having a few problems in her life, but what teenage girl does not? She is wishing she could take back ever meeting Sophie. Sophie has cause a lot of trouble in her life and in other people’s lives. They use to be friends, but over the summer at a party, Sophie caught Annabel with her boyfriend. Annabel is trying to fix everything that is wrong with her own life and problems within her family. She cannot do it all on her own and she needs help; she needs s...more
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Read in November, 2008
I picked the book, Just Listen ...<u/>, by Sarah Dessen, to read for my book report because Sarah Dessen is one of my all-time favorite authors. Her writing not only captivates me, but also inspires me. Dessen writes from a troubling teenager's point of view in which she expresses the many issues that Annabel faces. This book is about a girl, Annabel Greene, who is a model that appears in a commercial portraying as the girl that has it all. But in reality, she has nothing: no friends becau...more
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This book, Just Listen is a contemporary fiction book. The main character, Annabelle Greene is a Midwestern sophomore who starts out her school year without friends because of an incident that happened last year. She is ostracized by everyone in the school except a large, angry boy named Owen Armstrong and her ex-best friend Sophie who constantly insults her. She becomes friends with Owen and learns he is in anger management, and he teaches her how to confront people and tell the truth, especial...more
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Read in March, 2008
You'd think the life of a model would be perfect and hassle-free, but Annabel's life is anything but perfect. It's the fall of her junior year and even though in all the adds it looks like she's got it all, Annabel feels like her life is just falling apart. Between her former best friends vicious rumors and her sister's sickness at home, Annabel just doesn't know how to cope. It's not until she meets Owen Armstrong, the super tall, music obsessed loner, that Annabel starts to see thinks in a dif...more
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5 comments
Read in March, 2008
recommended to Wee!wawaLAA!!! by:
Waffle?recommends it for: teenagers, not-into-pop-music people
So far, the storyline's OK, but not the best I've ever seen. Like Annabel is the model, but she hates the job, but doesn't want her mom to be hurt with the decision. So she constantly tells less than the actual truth and denies being a liar. Until she met Owen Armstrong, who helped her when she was getting hurt by all these assholed gossipers. Then all they talk about is like music and jobs, which is kinda boring. Apparently Annabel is one of the more preppy girls who like the more modern pop so...more
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111 comments
Read in March, 2008
recommended to Waffle...♥ by:
Me? o-o;recommends it for: Grades 8-12
This book is ALOT like The Truth About Forever but the story line is very different... personally I liked The Truth About Forever better because it's much more touching and sweet... but this book teaches a great deal of a lesson about truth. Truth haunts and lingers over you no matter what and you can never let it go. If you chose to ignore it... its going to overtake your future and the only way out is to follow it through.
Shhh, Annabel. It's just me. That part was fantastic! I rea...more
Shhh, Annabel. It's just me. That part was fantastic! I rea...more
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Read in June, 2007
Though I liked "This Lullaby" by Sarah Dessen better, this book does have some redeeming qualities.
This is about a girl who is dealing with all of the typical teenage problems (loss of best friend, sexual assault, sister with eating disorder, emotionally unstable mother, etc.) The book starts out slow and is predictable for about the first 50 pages.
However, then Sarah Dessen's charm kicks in. Enter: the boy music snob we've all learned to love, a strong moral ...more
This is about a girl who is dealing with all of the typical teenage problems (loss of best friend, sexual assault, sister with eating disorder, emotionally unstable mother, etc.) The book starts out slow and is predictable for about the first 50 pages.
However, then Sarah Dessen's charm kicks in. Enter: the boy music snob we've all learned to love, a strong moral ...more
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Read in February, 2008
Annabel Greene's family looks perfect, but really things have been pretty rough. Annabel's sister Whitney is battling an eating disorder, which has the whole family unbalenced, while Annabel is hiding a pretty big secret as well. Annabel hates to confront others, so instead of telling them how she really feels she tells them just what they want to hear, even if it makes her unhappy. During Summer her and her friend Sophie get in a fight, she does everything she can to avoid telling others what h...more
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Read in December, 2008
Another excellent story from Sarah Dessen, I felt this book was powerfully written and taught many life lessons in about 400 pages. Captivating and suspenseful at times, this book would have been flawless if the copy I was reading from the library did not have torn pages every five pages. Which means I missed out on dynamic parts, climatic parts, and the most suspenseful parts. THANKS A LOT ASSHOLE. Anyways, great book, would reccommend for fans of Dessen's other books :]
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Read in May, 2007
recommended to Taylor S by:
my momrecommends it for: anybody
Annabel is a senior in high school and she's not doing that great. Her best friend hates her because of some false accusations, Annabel's sister has a n eating disorder, and her parents aren't that much help. One day at school, alone and friendless, Annabel meets Owen. Owen strives on confrontation as much as Annabel tries to avoid it. He teaches Annabel about thinking for herself and deciding her own decisions.
When Annabel and Owen get in a fight and everything comes full circle, Annabel...more
When Annabel and Owen get in a fight and everything comes full circle, Annabel...more
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Read in March, 2009
Annabelle has spent her entire summer sequestered after an incident at a end-of-school party in which she was humiliated in front of all her friends. Her best friend is no longer speaking to her, and we find out in progressive flashblack clips what exactly happened. Before Annabelle can get too lonely, she meets fellow social outcast Owen who teaches her the virtues of honesty and gives her the confidence to come clean about her secrets.
If this storyline sounds familiar, it's bec...more
If this storyline sounds familiar, it's bec...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
Stephenie Meyer fan
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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1 comment
03/17/09
Lauren
added it
Read in March, 2009
I am reading the book Just Listen, by Sarah Dessen. So far, I really like it. I would definitely recommend this book to all teens. I think everyone could find something in this book they can relate to. Whether it’s about the main character Annabel’s problems with friends, the boy she meets, or wanting to tell her mother something difficult and needing to find the strength to do it. Also readers might be able to relate to how Annabel’s sister has an eating disorder. You see how the disorder...more
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03/17/09
Hanah
marked it as to-read
Just Listen
I really recommend the book Just Listen. I recommend it because it is very easy to relate to. It’s about a girl named Annabel who is a model along with her two sisters. One sister goes anorexic and gets very ill. One night Annabel woke up to have a snack and she found her sister lying passed out on the floor. Her anorexia had gotten to a point where it was starting to kill her, so her parents made her go to a specialist.
Meanwhile, Annabel meets a guy name...more
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Read in February, 2009
This is the second time I've read this book, and my opinion basically didn't change between readings. "The Truth About Forever" definitely remains my favorite of Dessen's books. This story is just as empathetically written, allowing easy access to the protagonist's thoughts and feelings. The structure and many of the emotional fluxes are a little too similar to "Truth" to acknowledge this later book as wonderful in its own right.
I do enjoy Dessen's tendancy to co...more
I do enjoy Dessen's tendancy to co...more
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Read in January, 2009
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quotes from this book
"So you're always honest," I said.
"Aren't you?"
"No," I told him. "I'm not."
"Well, that's good to know, I guess."
"I'm not saying I'm a liar," I told him. He raised his eyebrows. "That's not how I meant it, anyways."
"How'd you mean it, then?"
"I just...I don't always say what I feel."
"Why not?"
"Because the truth sometimes hurts," I said.
"Yeah," he said. "So do lies, though."
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![Just Listen [UNABRIDGED], (Audio CD)](http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174001282s/352376.jpg)












