GIVEAWAY & REVIEW: Reunited by Hilary Weisman Graham @HilaryGraham @SimonTeen

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MY THOUGHTS
LOVED IT

Take three best friends from junior high with one giant misunderstanding that causes them to hate each other, mix in some musical love and give them four years to marinated and grow up and you will get this wonderful debut, Reunited.   Alice, the brainy one, hears an advertisement for a reunion concert for the band Level3 and buys tickets thinking they could all reunite as well and road trip to the show.  The trio of girls had seriously bonded over the group when they were in middle school but after a major fallout in their freshman year, stopped speaking to each other.  Summer, had grown extremely popular, while Tiernan was shuttled off to boarding school after rebelling from her parents divorce.

The three have little in common anymore and each has their own reasons for agreeing to go with Alice in the Pea Pod, a now-restored green VW camper that they had used as a club house while growing up. Summer has a boyfriend that turns out to be a cheater while Tiernan is escaping from another grounding from a  run in with her mother.  Alice just wants to relive the friendship and bond that they once had.  Of course, the trip is anything but smooth and each character shows strength and resources that help explain why they were once so close.  They don’t realize until the end that this has been the trip of a lifetime and when it is almost too late discover that their friendship is really true.

I just adored this sweet story. No guys, no sex, just wonderful female self discovery and girl power that keep everything real while being fanciful at the same time.  It is full of adventure with each twist and turn of the road they travel in their last big hurrah after high school.  I enjoyed how each made a major self discovery and remembered why they were once friends.  This is well suited for older teens since there is once mention of alcohol which doesn’t end well and some hooking up but nothing too graphic.  This is chick lit for the younger set but one that adult should love as well.