Simone Elkeles Reviews

Added January 25, 2008

Leaving Paradise

Author: Simone Elkeles
Publisher: Flux, an imprint of Llewellyn Publications
Available At: Bookstores everywhere
Publishing Date: Available now
Genre: Young Adult: Contemporary/Mainstream
Format: Trade paperback
Price: $8.95
ISBN-10:
ISBN-13: 978:0-7387-1018-1
Author Email/Website: http://www.simoneelkeles.com/
Reviewer: Joyce Handzo
Rating: 8 Gargoyles

Leaving Paradise is an emotionally charged reality check into the lives of teenagers. Written with gritty dialogue and packed with powerful scenes, young adult readers will come face to face with serious issues and difficult solutions.

Caleb Becker went to jail for driving drunk and hitting Maggie Armstrong, leaving her with severe injuries. After Caleb is released from prison, and Maggie graduates to a new stage of physical therapy, these teenagers return to high school. Their peers don't really know how to accept them back into their world, making for awkward and downright awful moments. Ironically, their isolation from their former friends brings them to a disturbing new level of closeness. But things get a whole lot stranger when the truth of the car accident is finally remembered.

This novel pulses with the passions and problems of teenagers. The situations and dialogue acknowledge the offensive language, sexual urgings and the razor sharp relationship pyramids that exist for high school students. Yet, the story also highlights the intense longing for reality and truth. Amidst a world full of pretensions, these kids are looking for the single moments that will define their futures and give voice to their destinies. The main characters, Caleb and Maggie, seem to be at opposite ends of the 'cool' spectrum, but once readers get past their exterior facades, there is a startling similarity. The author truly respects and understands teens and these pages give solid proof of that.

The complexity of the story line is gradually peeled away to reveal a simplicity that embraces the characters with pain and a purpose. Leaving Paradise comes full circle; love and hate blur the boundaries to create an ending that is born of a hopeful beginning.

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This page was last updated on January 25, 2008

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