Extraordinary things can happen when the best-laid plans go awry

Jenn Bennett’s Starry Eyes is everything that I love about Young Adult literature. It’s heartwarming, funny, and doesn’t hide from big issues.

Starry Eyes is about Zorie Everheart, the dictionary definition of an “A-Type” personality. I’m pretty compulsive, and Zorie puts me to shame. Her life is planned, organized, and even color coded.

Unfortunately for Zorie, the sad reality of life is that we have no control over the things we most want to control- like, for instance, the canyon of silence that’s grown between her ex-best friend (and ex-potential soulmate), Lennon, she’s accidentally discovered her dad’s an adulterous jerk, and her body’s trademark reaction to spontaneous stress? Violent hives.

Needless to say, Zorie’s got a lot going on.

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So, even though she’s not one for camping, and certainly didn’t have it color-coded into her vacation plans, she’s now going glamping (glamour camping) with Reagan, a friend who Zorie’s not-so-closely friendly with anymore. Of course, by the rule of Murphy’s Law, guess who’s coming glamping too?

After an explosive argument, Zorie winds up stranded off the beaten path with Lennon as her survival guide. Obviously, hijinks of the best kind ensue from there.

Zorie and Lennon are wonderfully balanced; Bennett’s created two characters who are the perfect foils for each other, and the chemistry feels real. The two have inside jokes, and a real history that they start to learn can’t just be buried under some silence and snarky banter.

I genuinely liked both characters. Even though I’m twenty-seven and would hope to have my life under control by now, I could empathize so much with Zorie. She’s every teen (and adult) who’s just doing the best they can to swim in a tide that’s seriously pushing against them. She’s stuck in a really tough place, and it’s easy to root for her and hope that her life gets straightened out. She’s funny and smart, and I love that Bennett created a teen protagonist who wants to be an astrophysicist (how awesome!). I want to see more of these teen characters with big, brainy dreams. Not to forget, her eye glasses game is totally on point (I’m jealous).

Lennon is snarky and sweet, my personal favorite combination. Like Zorie, he’s a little off-beat, but Lennon seems to manage the social stratosphere more easily, getting the “rebel reputation” whether he wants it or not. He’s a teen with two moms and an ex-musician for a father; he wasn’t made to blend in, and he owns his differences. I think that’s one of the things I liked most about Lennon- he has a strong sense of self, and he’s not just a filler character to further plot development.

I loved the artwork that went with the parts of the book as well as the maps, especially once I learned why the maps were significant (that made my heart happy).

I’d never read one of Jenn Bennett’s YA novels before; I’d only ever read (and loved) the Arcadia Bell series, so I didn’t know what to expect, but I’m so glad that I took the time to read Starry Eyes. It even strikes me as the kind of book that would translate well to film, and I’d totally go watch that too!

It flashed me back to being twelve years old, reading my first Sarah Dessen book and discovering that YA/Teen lit could be meaningful and beautiful in its humor and awkward romance.

Thank you, Jenn Bennett :)