The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott -- one of my new favorites.

I go to the local bookstore all the time with my friends. We can sit there for hours on end just reading books that we wouldn't normally buy. Well, for the last couple of times, I've been nursing on the book The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott. (This is the first book I've read by her, and it definitely encouraged me to read more.) And although at times, it can be extremely difficult to concentrate with certain people running mad in the background, picking up goth magazines or weird self help books you never even knew people had problems about, I tried my best to read this book. And I never bought it because it was a hardcover. Hardcover copies are expensive. Anyway, back to the book.
It's about this girl, Sarah, who has been best friends with Brianna since kindergarten, when Brianna stood up for Sarah. So Sarah has always been there for and with Brianna, even when her parents seem to not care about her or who she is.But on the outside, Brianna has always been the pretty one, the outgoing one, and the boy crazy one ever since she stood up for Sarah. But now enters Ryan: the boy Sarah has longed for over years, even got asked to go to a school dance with back in grade school-- the one boy who Brianna can't seem to hold on to. Sarah's feelings for Ryan are the one thing in her life that she keeps to herself, and she likes it that way. But one single night at a back to school party changes the way Sarah begins to view her life. Everything is full of what-ifs and Sarah doesn't know what to do when she finally begins to understand that she wasn't imagining things, and that someone actually might choose her, the mousy one always lagging behind the center of attention. But now, Sarah has choices to make--friendship or love?


At the beginning of this book, I was able to picture the characters vividly. Maybe it was because I could relate a little bit. But as the book progressed, I was able to see these people as real, as real to me as they would have been to someone living on a secluded island half their life, only vague memories of human contact. They would be able to see these characters in their mind; it was that good. I liked how Sarah steadily progressed in confidence and understanding of herself as a person. She was such a captivating and dynamic person to read about, with real life issues that could happen to anyone of us.


Random side note: I got third place in the Literature short fiction story Fine Arts competition for my work "Because of the Cat"!!! =)