When It Happens
A novel by Susane Colasanti
Reviewed by Celena Todora
With narration alternating between the two main characters, Tobey and Sara, the book, When It Happens, tells the story of two teenagers destined to be together. Sara and Tobey are entering their senior year with a similar goal: to find true love. Tobey envisions the perfect relationship with Sara, who hardly even knows he exists. Intelligent, academic-driven Sara doesn’t even acknowledge lazy, unmotivated Tobey. All summer she had waited for the cute, popular boy, Dave, to ask her out, and then it finally happened. For the first half of the book, Sara and Dave are dating and Sara is realizing that Dave isn’t the perfect guy she thought he was. Dave is arrogant and aggressive. Tobey watches their relationship unravel in agony. He was convinced that Sara was his soul mate. Slowly, Sara gets to know Tobey and realizes that they have everything in common, while her and Dave have nothing. Colasanti realistically describes the beauty and hardship of teenage relationships as Tobey and Sara fall in love. This book flows inspirationally, yet painfully as Tobey and Sara’s relationship gets rocky. The author successfully pulls the reader into the story, causing them to feel the conflicts of teenage love, laugh at the witty dialogue, and smile at the heart-warming tale of true love.
