Jennifer Brown (Perfect Escape; Hate List) packs another emotional punch with Thousand Words.
Ashleigh and Kaleb haven't had a great summer so far. Kaleb is often out doing other things, and they haven't had a lot of quality time together. At the epic end-of-summer pool party that Ashleigh attends (alone), her friends convince her that she should send him something he can remember her by while he's away at college: "He'll remember you for sure then." In a moment of bad judgment, Ashleigh goes straight to the bathroom and sends off a nude picture of herself. But when Kaleb and Ashleigh break up, Kaleb forwards the picture to his baseball team.
Brown is a master of serious topics paired with a flowing narrative style. From page one, where we find Ashleigh in a community service assignment, the story moves quickly and keeps readers engaged. The emotion paired with alternating chapters of "then" and "now" clearly lays out a situation that turns out to be much more serious than anyone expected. Brown examines the lasting impact of impulsive decisions and prompts readers to do the same. --Shanyn Day, blogger at Chick Loves Lit