Sean Griswold's Head

Sean Griswold's Head

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3.83 of 5 stars 3.83  ·  rating details  ·  2,841 ratings  ·  539 reviews
According to her guidance counselor, fifteen-year-old Payton Gritas needs a focus object-an item to concentrate her emotions on. It's supposed to be something inanimate, but Payton decides to use the thing she stares at during class: Sean Griswold's head. They've been linked since third grade (Griswold-Gritas-it's an alphabetical order thing), but she's never really known
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Hardcover, 288 pages
Published March 1st 2011 by Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
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240th out of 1,176 books — 6,249 voters
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Kristi (The Story Siren)
I knew I was going to love this book, not only did it sound awesome, but Lindsey is a fantastic author! And I was so very excited to read her YA! I was NOT disappointed!

Payton was an incredibly well written character. She leapt off the pages.... I loved how imperfect she was. She frustrated me, she made me laugh, and she impressed me. She was a very realistic character as was her reaction to her father's illness.

Another aspect of the novel that was really impressive was the relationship between...more
Nafiza
You know how sometimes when you finish a book, you sit quietly for a while just savouring the end of a tale told so very well? That’s what happened to me when I finished Read Sean Griswold’s Head. To say that I loved it would be sort of an understatement.

Ms. Leavitt takes a subject that does not usually have a space in YA literature, makes it relatable, even personal, and shows the reader that a disease does not define a person, no matter how debilitating it is. What Payton’s father suffers is r...more
Cassi aka Snow White Haggard
Sean Griswold's Head is another great book from Lindsey Leavitt. She has a gift with writing books that are accessible, funny and young without feeling juvenile. For those who enjoy her Princess for Hire series (me!), read Sean Griswold's Head. While it's different, without any magic, the sense of humor and writing style remains the same.

Payton Gritas is the ideal student--organized, focused and driven. That is, until her father is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and her near perfect life tur...more
Kailia
I’ve heard nothing but good things about Lindsey Leavitt’s writing. First it was Princess for Hire and now Sean Griswold’s Head. I’m happy to say that I’ve joined this group of people. Leavitt’s writing is fresh, witty, fun, and just her own and I loved Sean Griswold’s Head.

Multiple sclerosis is no joking matter and I wondered how Leavitt would handle this subject. I’ve noticed that when books have focuses like such diseases, they have these two distinguished ways of going: 1) either it’s very f...more
Radostina
This was a quick and easy read, though nowhere as lighthearted as Going Vintage--understandably so, because multiple sclerosis is not something one could write about lightheartedly. It is one of those books that strike the right balance between serious and funny stuff, with just the right amount of medical background needed to set the premises of the plot without excessively burdening it. And against this background, author Lindsey Leavitt builds authentic, real characters that the reader can ea...more
Ann Banda
Le tenía ganas a este libro desde antes que saliera osease año & medio!
& ahora se porque capto mi atención!
Es wow! Se que es raro decir que un libro con una tragedia es precioso sonara raro pero no me importa!
Creo que yo actuaria igual que Payton sí supiera que algo le pasa a un ser querido & ok estuvo mal la ley del hielo pero todos reaccionamos distinto & es normal que exagerara.
Esa amiguita que bárbara! yo ya la hubiera cacheteado -.-
Volviendo a Payton... de veras que me id...more
Jessica-Robyn
Sean Griswold's Head is more then what I expected it to be. I expected a cute, romantic, chick-lit, comedy about a quirky teen girl and the head of the boy who sits in front of her, all of which it undoubtedly was, but it was also much more then that. Sean Griswold's Head was about more then just a boy, but the experiences Payton goes through after tragic family news.

Payton is just starting highschool, she has a colour coded highlighter system for English, is psyched to buy a premium day planne...more
Kathy
So, the title and cover initially turned me off this book. After reading it they both make better sense. I actually only read it because I was going to read Levitt's princess series, but my library had this book and not the others so I thought I'd give it a try.

I ended up enjoying the story. At times I admit I was a little bored and not really into the main character. But, I was curious where the story was going to go and Payton grew on my after awhile. I liked that she chose Sean's head as her...more
Lisa
Book Cover: 4/5
The cover is just really cute, and it makes me what to see the front of his head! (Gahhh) But I also love how the chalk board has the circle chart, which Payton drew in one of her Focus Journals, and the little stick figure with his bike:D

Characters-

Favorite:
My favorite has to be....Sean! His so sweet, and caring. When he first found out that Payton was keeping journals about him, he figured he was just a play toy; being used by her and her councilor. When Sean knows the truth, he...more
Bookworm1858
Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt
Bloomsbury, 2011
274 pages
YA; Contemporary
5/5 stars

Source: Library

I probably wouldn't have read this if it weren't for the Contemps Challenge and if I hadn't read some other reviews that mentioned that the main character was actually female rather than Sean Griswold.

That main character is Payton Gritas, who upon discovering that her father has MS (multiple sclerosis) and that her family has been keeping that from her for about six months, and consequently sh...more
Melissa
So I am really relating to books lately where the main character has sick or dying parent(s).And this one was no exception and since hey I started running for my dad who had cancer it hit even closer to home. It amazes me that writers can write the same feelings I experience into a book and that I enjoy these books instead of wanting to throw them because they remind me of my dad. So my review is based a lot on that. The book was nothing really that special but it touched me and made me laugh an...more
Laura
Sean Griswold’s Head was super adorable! It surprised me, made me laugh out loud, and think about things that are right in front of my face which I might not have seen before.

I did not expect to like Payton as much as I did. The way she handled her family really upset me at times, but that was the point really. No one is perfect--especially in an emotional and stressful time. If she had handled herself with maturity and grace, well…there really would not have been a story to tell and she would n...more
Krissie
Read it 'cause the main character's so like me. I, too, have a freakish love for all things organizational. Okay, she goes a little loopy in chapter two and stops organizing, but I'm okay with that. I forget to organize, too.

She also starts biking. Kind of like me, because I would also like to bike, but I have no intention of biking 75 miles in one go. Or biking with the lightest bike I can get my hands on –heavier bike = more fitness gains. I also can't bike right now, as my special talent is f...more
Kathie Jackson
For freshman Payton Gritas, the only thing worse than learning her beloved dad has MS is the fact that her parents hid it from her for so long! Payton starts seeing her school guidance counselor for therapy sessions, which include keeping a feelings journal, and finding a “personal focus object” (PFO) to work through her conflicting emotions about her dad. She decides the oversize head of Sean Griswold, her classmate since 4th grade, makes the perfect PFO. Examining and writing in detail about S...more
Eunice
What I really, really liked about this book is the Focus Object idea. I'm thinking of doing the same thing but maybe I'll be too lazy to even think of one (or even focusing on one). Ok, on to the review...

Payton is generally likable. I definitely understand the hurt that comes from having someone lie to you though I think she went overboard with her pain at times. As we all do.

Sean is really great. I love how his reasoning is so well-reasoned. Haha. And his mother too was great.

I really like t...more
Jennifer
When I began this book, I really had no idea what to expect. Romantic comedy bordering on stalking?

I had my doubts. I hate the cover. HATE. I also really disliked the title, but realized how appropriate it was once I read the book.

When Payton discovers that her father has Multiple Sclerosis, she's devastated. When she discovers that everyone knew about it for months without telling her, she's angry. And at some point, her anger and fear for her dad's health continue to morph into more and more...more
Dlora
Delightfully funny look at a young 15-year-old who learns that her father has MS and that her parents have kept it from her for six months, even though they told her older brothers. Her life is thrown for a loop--she gives her parents the silent treatment, her straight-A preppy personality falls apart, and she quits her spot on the girls' basketball team on the spot because of its associations with her father. Much to Payton's embarrassment, her parents set up counseling sessions with a school g...more
Hayley Waters
This book was nothing like I expected it to be. I mean, look at the title (and the ostensively pink cover which is the version that I own), and it’ll seem like just a very fluffy, cutesy romance.

And sure, there is a cutesy romance vibe to this but what was surprising was the bite that it ended up having- or rather, in tumblr-lit terms, the ‘feels’ it gave me. What I found surprising was really how it was less about the romance and more about Payton’s relationship with her father as he begins tac...more
♥ Sarah
Feb 18, 2013 ♥ Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommended to ♥ Sarah by: Rachmi
"I spot the G– H line one second, and Sean standing at the end of it the next. The alphabetical connection never ends. From school lunch lines to major bike rides. He can’t escape me. I can’t escape him."

So the basic run down this is: Payton is a super-organizer, obsessed with planning, Seinfeld loving, basketball playing, honor roll student, with a quirky sense of humor, and knack for getting into really funny, cute situations. But she finds out that her dad’s suffering from MS, and suddenly, s...more
Leslye
I'm probably going to have to take a break from contemporaries for a while. There wasn't really anything wrong with this book, it's well written with good characters and a believable plot. But somewhere along the way I felt like I was drinking a flat diet soda - there just wasn't any fizz.

I liked the premise -- Payton needs a Focus Object for her school counseling sessions and chooses the head of the boy who sits in front of her. I can actually relate to that and can imagine developing a crush o...more
Aubrie
I personally loved this book!

It was a really cute and very realistic relative story to young teenage girls, and I think it explains perfectly how a young teenager feels in discovering her feelings.

Though this was a great read, I do have some critique on Jac

Jac was a nice character with a bubbly personality, but I think that the overuse of extensive medaling into the main character's business was a little too cliche. I have noticed this in many of these kinds of books, and it truly becomes tiring...more
Nareh
I choose the book “Sean Griswold’s Head” written by Lindsey Leavitt because of a quote written on the cover of the book. The quote was “What is the love of your life was literally in front of you?” that quote really made me interested because I like books about romance. This novel is about fifteen year old Payton. Payton has the perfect life and family but everything starts to go wrong once her father is diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis disease. Although her family is still close together Payto...more
Sandra
In the first several pages of the bookI found myself thinking this was too young and immature for me! What a snob I can be. It wasn't long before I was hooked into a story that has fold upon fold of serious and not-so-serious issues. Payton, whose point of view the story is from, is a young high school girl who excels at everything she does. There's nothing she doesn't do or handle well until she stumbles upon her mother giving her father an injection and they clarify that it's not for recreatio...more
Shrimalya
I don't even know where to start this review from.This book was wonderful in all ways.Payton's father is suffering from multiple sclerosis and she discovers that her parents had kept this from her for a few months.Her organised life spirals down as she tries to cope up and deal with her father's new condition.This book gives us a glimpse on how the family members of people suffering from serious diseases feel.The only mistake that our protagonist makes is that even though her father has MS she p...more
Shea Donahue
3.5 Stars

I had a hard time figuring out how to rate this book.

First off, it's really well written. The characters are real, the way a teen (or anyone) can paint herself into an emotional corner and then get stuck there more than rings true.

The first boyfriend, how everything is slow and you don't know what's real and what's not and what's wishful thinking. The family situation and how sometimes the people closest to you are the hardest to reach.

I HIGHLY recommend this book for those reasons.

Wh...more
✿ℎazℯℓ✿
"how can you go so long knowing someone without really knowing them at all?"

What an emotional read.


After bawling over the idea of a sick dad.. I realized that the books that make me cry honestly deserve 5 stars since it meant that I was affected by it in more ways than one.

Payton isn't a perfect character. She's self absorbed, an over thinker, vain, even mean sometimes. . . but then again, who's perfect? right?

When she found out that her dad was sick, she brandished her own kind of freaking-ou...more
Natalie
This was a surprising find. One that I liked quite a bit. I've been on such a fantasy/magic/dystopian/etc. kick lately that it's odd that I even branched out to read a realistic fiction. Thanks to the library for putting it on display!

Payton is a fifteen year old girl who finds out that her Dad has multiple sclerosis. The news is suffocating to her and her life slowly starts to unravel. Her guidance counselor tells her to choose a focus object, so she chooses Sean Griswold's head, because she s...more
Sammee (I Want to Read That)
4.5 Stars

I picked this one up not knowing much about it - it is one of the books for the comtemps challenge so I bought it to read as part of the challenge. I am so glad I did because it really is rather brilliant.

It follows Payton and her life after she learns her dad is diagnosed with MS. She doesn't take the news very well and goes to see a counsellor at her school. She suggests Payton find a focus object so she decides to use Sean Griswold's head...

This book is so much more than I realised i...more
Siew Ee
When I started reading the book, I became more interested in how Payton dealt with her father’s multiple sclerosis than how she progressed with her Focus Object. Seriously, I can never understand teenagers, and in a way, I was glad I picked this book to check it out for my daughter because I found myself trying very hard to understand why Payton gave his father such a hard time. Say….if my father has MS, kept it from me for six months but told everyone else in the family (mother and 2 brothers),...more
Julie
There are so many things to love about this book. The story, the humor, the compelling emotion, the believability of it all. But the best thing about this book are the characters. Each and every one of them are fully realized--right down to the misunderstood goth who cries and quotes tennyson--right down to the guidance counselor--right down to the biology teacher who showed up to class hung over from party night.

This book is about Payton, a teen girl who discovers her dad has MS. Payton doesn't...more
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Sequel? 5 24 Jun 14, 2013 07:47am  
Teachers' Book Club: Sean Griswold's Head 60 56 May 12, 2013 03:13pm  
Sean Griswold's Head (Paperback)
Sean Griswold's Head (Paperback)
Sean Griswold's Head (ebook)
Sean Griswold's Head (Kindle Edition)
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Lindsey Leavitt is a former elementary school teacher and present day writer/mom to three (mostly) adorable little girls. She is married to her high school lab partner and lives in Las Vegas. She is the author of the PRINCESS FOR HIRE series (www.princessforhire.com), SEAN GRISWOLD'S HEAD and GOING VINTAGE
Visit her on the web at www.lindseyleavitt.com

More about Lindsey Leavitt...
Princess for Hire (Princess for Hire, #1) Going Vintage The Royal Treatment (Princess for Hire, #2) A Farewell to Charms (Princess for Hire, #3)

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