What Happened to Goodbye

author: Sarah Dessen

published: May 10th 2011

publisher: Penguin

format: eBook

pages: 267 (Nook)

The following summary is from Goodreads.

In the past two years, Mclean Sweet has moved four times. At each stop, she assumes a new persona, but it never quite works. Whether she's an effervescent cheerleader or an intense drama queen, nothing can permanently dispel the turmoil and rage at her mother since her parents' divorce.

Sarah Dessen's novel about a teenager and her restaurant manager father captures the vulnerability that young people often experience after the dissolution of their family. A compelling story; strong characterization; and with a touch of romance.

Cover:

I love this cover. I think that it really depicts what life is like for Mclean. The overflowing suitcase, which is absolutely adorable, shows how she's always moving around. I get the impression that it's just so constant from this image. I really like it. There was another one where the curtains were much less pink and hardly visible at all. I like this one more. For sure.

Book:

Mclean does what I wished I could do. I've only ever moved once. That was the summer before I started middle school. There were times in high school where I wanted to just move and start over. Be a different girl. The girl I wanted to be, not the girl that I was. I really didn't like high school. I mean, while I was there it was fine, but looking back I see how unhappy I was. Anyway Mclean has a lot to deal with and the best way she knows how is to run away and become someone else. This works for her for a while, but when she gets to Lakeview, somehow she becomes Mclean. Not Liz, Lizbet, or Beth. It's a great coming of age story about a normal girl, whose world gets completely turned upside down. Her parents go through a very public divorce and it really takes its toll on Mclean.

This is one of Sarah's best novels. Definitely a favorite.

I was able to go to one of her book tour stops last week. It was great! Sarah read from the first chapter and answered questions that were insightful and helpful. She did trivia where she gave out these great water bottles. And she signed books. She mentioned how surprised she was at how many people were there. There were a lot. Many waited outside the room because it was so full. I was lucky enough to get a front row seat. It was fun and it was amazing to meet one of my favorite writers. So amazing!

Sunday Series [3]

This week I'm comparing the covers of Sarah Dessen's novels. There are several covers for her books and I'm going to be looking at the newest of the US covers.

Lock and Key has a different cover for hardcover and paperback. I'll show them both. And I believe that the paperback cover for Along for the Ride will look the same. Before it came out in hardcover, Sarah did a vlog where she read a bit from the book and it was the paperback version (or maybe an ARC) with the hardcover cover. And it "matches" the rest of the books. I can't see why they would change the cover.

So without further ado...

I've decided not to talk about the books individually. There are nine of them. So! I love Sarah Dessen's books. And I think that the covers are really great representations of the books. From the cover you can tell that these books are about girls. Let's face it! You can tell that they aren't paranormal or action/adventure books. Because they aren't! To me they look exactly like they are: coming of age stories of the modern girl (and boy. there are always boys and sometimes they grow up too)

I'm really glad that you can see the cover of any of the books and tell it's a Sarah Dessen book even without looking at her name.

Speaking of her name, it's always preceded by "New York Times Best-Selling Author" in smaller print and her name is always in the same font and size and it's raised up from the rest of the book. Oh yeah! And on all nine books, her name is at the top. It's little things like that, that make me happy. They are cohesive. There's that word again that I love so much.

The pictures change, but that's good because no two stories are the same. They're different stories with different people. But often the same setting which is so freaking awesome!

Sarah Dessen sometimes mentions characters from previous books in newer ones. In Just Listen Owen makes Annabel listen to music and one of the bands is Truth Squad from This Lullaby. And some places are the same too. I think that's really cool because it makes it COHESIVE! :D The lives are sort of intertwined and that's awesome. I think the covers reflect that as a whole. They're all connected, but no two are the same. All of the girls have their own stories to tell.

The hardcover version of Lock and Key. (above) I remember seeing it and the key inside the lock is behind the cover and the key hole is actually an opening. I LOVE that! I really did like the hardcover version, but all of my Sarah Dessen books are in paperback and I couldn't bring myself to have mis-matched books. I just couldn't do it.

I don't know why they did that. They changed the cover for the paperback version, which is good. It goes better with the rest. But they cover for Along for the Ride is similar to the other ones. This one just stands out like a sore thumb. It's not similar. Except for Sarah's name.

I wonder why they made this cover...

I know why publishers change covers. To sell more. Some covers sell better than others. It's true. But I'm not really sure why they went this way for the Lock and Key cover. I love it, don't get me wrong. It's great. I just don't know why they made the hardcover look this way when they went back to the "old" way with the paperback. They made the paperback one look like all the others. I just don't understand

Either way, I love Sarah Dessen's books. I can't wait for her next one!

So which cover is your favorite? Do you have a favorite book? What do you think about the change in covers for Lock and Key? Do you think they'll keep the Along for the Ride cover when they make it in paperback?