Impressions

by Elizabeth Anderson

Elliot is starting a new school, again, and will be making friendsâno, acquaintancesâagain. Thrown into a theater class (whatever happened to good ole gym?) he cleverly avoids a part in this year's fall play Romeo and Juliet and instead finds himself heading up the team of set-builders. Despite his best efforts to lay low, this rambunctious group of students is anything but acquaintances. Between disasters during rehearsals, late-night pizza outings, and an unpredicted donning of authentic Shakespearean tights, Elliot finds himself forced to make friends, even a best friend, Allison.

228 pages, Perfect Paperback

First published November 8, 2011

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an uplifting YA read. The character reminds me of the characters in Anne Tyler's novels. The most outstanding quality is their humanity - complete with flaws. Elliot is "everykid" - the student who has baggage, but goes on living and trying anyway. I have taught kids like those in the book. Anderson is an English teacher and I could not only see her when I read this book, I saw students we have had in common. The story feels real. The writing is good, but safe - she didn't try anything overly literary or fancy. I think she will take more risks as she grows as a novelist.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was clearly not the target audience for this book. I loved meeting the author and hearing how the book came to be, and some of the characters in the book are more believable now. However, I found the story to be one coincidence too much.

My 17 year old daughter loved it, reading it in one sitting and feeling the book for most of the next day.