Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan

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This YA novel follows Josie, a sixteen year old genius who takes classes at both her high school and local college.  Josie has a thing for languages and speaks many of them: English, French, high school, college, friends, boyfriends.  She is fascinated by how the same word can mean so many different things to different people.  I have to admit, I like Josie.

Josie’s main problem comes when her older sister, Kate, brings home her fiancé for the first time.  Jose feels that Geoffery is all wrong for her sister and sets out to break them up.  Informed that she doesn’t know the meaning of being in love, she attempts to use the same system she has for navigating the different areas of her life to figure out just what it means to be in love.  Her story is full of false starts and plenty of confusion.  There were times I felt like Josie was being a total brat, but more times when I wanted to punch Kate in the nose.  This is a coming of age story, akin to a John Green novel.  It’s not perfect, but it’s poignant and quite true to life.  Good for teens and adults alike.

Reviewed by Ashley

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