Kissing in America

by Margo Rabb

In the two years since her father died, sixteen-year-old Eva has found comfort in reading romance novels -- 118 of them, to be exact -- to dull the pain of her loss that's still so present. Her romantic fantasies become a reality when she meets Will, who seems to truly understand Eva's grief. Unfortunately, after Eva falls head-over-heels for him, he picks up and moves to California without any warning. Not wanting to lose the only person who has been able to pull her out of sadness -- and, perhaps, her shot at real love -- Eva and her best friend, Annie, concoct a plan to travel to the west coast to see Will again. As they road trip across America, Eva and Annie confront the complex truth about love.

• ISBN10: 0606387439
• ISBN13: 9780606387439
• Publish Date: 24 May 2016 (first published 26 May 2015)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 6 April 2021
• Imprint: Turtleback Books
• Edition: Bound for Schools & Libraries ed.
• Format: Hardcover (Library Binding)
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

This book was a mixed bag for me. Overall, I liked it.
What I liked:
• Initially, the romance
• Parts of the road trip
• The idea of the quiz show
• Eva's reflections regarding her father
• Lulu
• Eva's grieving process and other character's sharing their grief

What I wasn't so crazy about:
• Parts of the road trip
• Most of what happened in California

I will say, that the ending was nice, and the characters all seemed to be moving in a positive direction, which was what I really wanted.

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[bookishzelda]

I adored Kissing in America, it’s one of those books that you can’t even completely describe the vibe you get from it. It’s a great story for so many reasons..the different types of love, the diversity and the travel.

I loved the plot of the book. There is nothing like a good road trip in my mind and I admit that I have actually road tripped to see a boy in high school. He was also my “kind of” “sort of” dating guy friend. It was similar in the aspect that I had convince my friends that we would go camping as well as seeing him, they needed a reason to make the drive. That is still one of my favorite trips and reading reminded me of it and I couldn’t help smiling.When Eva and Annie set out on the trip, they know that it’s going to be an adventure but they definitely didn’t realize how much they are going to learn about themselves and the people in their lives.

I liked that even though Eva’s father passed away a long time ago, she is still going through the grieving process. There is no time limit on grief and the book is such a great depiction of that. I’ve always thought of it for myself is that you never really get over it but you learn to live with it. It’s just another component of you. Eva never really had the proper closure that she needed and it has put a strain on her relationship with her mom and how she views the people around her.

Annie is the fantastic friend that takes the journey with her. Annie is always supportive and understanding no matter what happens with Eva. She is working towards an awesome scholarship and there is a pivotal point between the two girls that kind of show the give and take.It also proves Annie’s character.

The romance is also very well depicted. There were times when I thought it was cute how Will and Eva wrote actual letters and other times where I thought it was weird he didn’t use a cell phone.

The cast of characters that are from New York and that they meet along the way are brilliant. It’s such a fantastic book because of it’s diversity and age representation. We have everything from Aunt Gonorrhea to a Cowboy that wants more out of life then shoveling hay.

I really like Margo Rabb’s writing style. I described it to my husband as short sentences but that’s probably not the best descriptive. It kind of has that poetic quality. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t but with this story I think it really did. I also loved the little romance novel version of events thrown in since Eva is a big fan of them. Plus Margo incorporated so many cool poems and literary figures.

I really loved Kissing in America and I thought the book had one of those perfect endings. The kind that makes you walk away and leaves you with a satisfied vibe. Like wow that was a great read.

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

Kissing in America is an insightful look at different kinds of love. Sixteen-year-old Eva believes she is truly, romantically in love with schoolmate Will—after all, she’s read enough romance novels to know—but by the end of her story Eva realizes there are all kinds of love in the world and she is blessed by them all.

In many ways, Kissing in America is a novel about balancing these loves. On one hand, it is about the hope, the excitement, the possibilities of romantic love. As long as Eva and Will are separated, the story is about the magic that will happen when they are finally together again. One the other hand, Rabb doesn’t want either Eva or readers to be fixated only on the future. As Eva crosses the country, she is thrown into a variety of wild adventures and learns there is much more to her world than the city where she grew up. She realizes that, even as she looks forward to meeting up with Will, she has to learn to live in the present and appreciate what she already has.

What Eva already has is best friend Annie: superstar student who is going to be the Smartest Girl in America (once she wins the TV completion). The girls’ friendship is the cornerstone of the novel, what holds Eva together as she pines for Will and struggles with the death of her father and her resulting distance from her grieving mother. The title might lead one to believe the book is all about guys, when in so many ways it is about the strong relationships between women. Besides Annie, other notable influences in Eva’s life include her mother, her aunt, family friend Lulu, and her potential step-grandmother.

Kissing in America basically says love can be hard, no matter form it takes. But all loves are worth whatever pain and effort comes with them. As Eva concludes, “No one wrote romances about mothers and daughters. There were no epic cowboy and jungle tales about mother and daughter love.” That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth writing about, so Margo Rabb has.

Source: Goodreads Giveaway