Contemporary fiction, whether it be young adult or mainstream, doesn't often interest me. If there's not some sort of magic or supernatural element running amok I'll probably not be interested. The blurb for SEAN GRISWOLD'S HEAD however had me hooked. I can't pretend I went through something similar to what happened to Payton, both of my parents are rather healthy all things considered, but Leavitt crafted a novel that spoke to my fears as a teenager.

Getting into fights with a friend, that first crush that blossoms into more, trying to maintain some sort of balance...that's all stuff that's easy to relate to and feel for. High school is hard enough without then finding out your father is fighting a serious disease (never mind her family felt a need to hide it from her for her 'own good').

Throughout SEAN GRISWOLD I would begin to feel heart broken for Payton. Her slow decline from compulsively organized to angry, hurt and rebellious teenager is a gradual degradation. After he initial anger wears off Payton lashes out at her parents in a way she knows (instinctively) will hurt them. Its not malicious or cruel, she is merely trying to hurt them the way they hurt her. I could understand her feelings, it was a crappy way to find out about a life-altering disease and an even crappier way to find out that even after fifteen years of being the straightest edge you can imagine, her parents still didn't feel like she could cope.

Maybe they were right, if nothing else Payton proves that she jumps to the worst conclusions as quickly as possible from the barest information. Sean has headaches--ergo he must have a brain tumor or something equally horrific and life-threatening. She hates not having control and if she admitted that she was terrified of what could happen to her father she lost the control she based her life around.

Following Payton and Sean's courtship was amusing and exasperating. Payton, and her friend Jaq, do practically everything a teen girl does when she has a crush. They follow Sean. Analyze the smallest fragment of a conversation. Engineer ways to see him more. Reading about Payton's quest to know more about him was like reading about my teen years spent trying to find out more about my crush. Her ups and near misses and embarrassing moments had my feelings all over the place while I alternated between rooting for her to talk to him and wanting to smack her up side the head for being dense.

At times the writing is a little shallow and glosses over things, mostly because this is from Payton's point of view and her story. I wanted to know more about Sean and Grady's friendship/past...but that had little bearing on the present. Its my hope that Leavitt chooses to explore Grady's life and Jaq's life in the future, they both faced issues that teens handle every day and would make a good counterpoint to Payton's tale (though I'll be honest, I want to read more about how Payton and Sean turn out!).

In the end this book made me laugh, cry, sigh dramatically and ponder just how drama-filled high school can get. It was a thoroughly enjoyable read and just as importantly, I think it handled difficult subjects in a way that teens (or even non-teens) can understand and emphasize with ( )

Let's say: hilarious and has me grinning.
Okay.
Wonderful and fun and serious. All sorts of 'wow' in a single package.

Cute. Now that's the word I never thought I'd use to describe a book. Ever.
But there you have it. Totally cute.

Oh the worlds we would go if Payton and Jac happened to be my friends... Sanity being optional, of course =D ( )

Fifteen-year-old Payton Gritas isn't talking to her family. Her dad has MS, multiple sclerosis, and while her parents felt it appropriate to tell her years older brothers, they all kept it from her. Until she found out by accident.

Hence her not talking to them.

Now she's been sent to the school guidance counselor, Ms Callahan, so that she will talk to someone and find
a way to deal with things.

Ms Callahan has an idea that Payton's parents probably never thought of when they called, though: a Focus Object. Payton's supposed to find something to focus her emotions on that will help her cope with her family's secret and her father's MS.

Thing is, it's supposed to be an inanimate object and Payton's picked Sean Griswold's head.

Griswold-Gritas. Alphabetically they're been seated together since elementary school so Payton's had a lot of time to stare at Sean Griswold's head.

Except, once she starts focusing on--or stalking Sean---and his head, she realizes she doesn't actually know very much about Sean, at all.

Soon, Sean's working his way into Payton's closely guarded life. And she's going to have to look at herself, to really deal with her feeling on her father's MS.



Sean Griswold's Head is what you should want every book you pick up to be. It's that amazingly perfect.

On one page, it has you grinning, a few pages later it squeezes your heart, and then, then it somehow does both at the same time. Very, very few books--if any, really--are able to do the touching sweet moments as well as the funny ones.

Sean Griswold's Head is somehow, also, a pitch-perfect story of first love while also telling of a story coping with a member who has multiple sclerosis. While each element is separate, they're also not. The love story is stronger because Payton's dealing with her family situation is part of it and her family and friends either directly or indirectly help her romance along.
I don't care if you for whatever reason don't like the summary of this book (either mine or the publishers) or are some reason unsure of it, please do read it!! I adore it.


10/10

(review copy sent thanks to Kate at Bloomsbury)

A good read to show how one teen deals with a family issue and how she comes to terms with it. ( )

This was a fast, fun read with some serious stuff too. We've got a cute budding romance, a teen dealing with her father getting a serious and possibly debilitating disease (MS), all with humor. I don't think I liked this one as much as Leavitt's most recent book, Going Vintage, but it was still a nice way to end my 2013 reading. ( )