Love, Meg

by C. Leigh Purtill

Fans of Sarah Dessen's Just Listen will fall in love with this gorgeously written story of one girl's search for her family and herself. Sixteen-year-old Meg Shanley has to start life over again in Los Angeles because her thirty-year-old sister Lucie can't get it together. Lucie is always chasing a new man, quitting her job, and packing up their lives. Meg wishes she didn't have to count on Lucie, but she's the only family Meg has ever known. Then a man arrives on their doorstep and reveals a shocking Back in New York Meg has an uncle, a grandmother, and a father who might not even know she exists. Meg sees an opportunity to have the family she's always dreamed about. She summons all her will, defies Lucie, and travels to New York. But happiness, she discovers, doesn't lie in a new family. Instead it rests in the true source of her inner strength; in a secret that has been buried deep inside her heart.

Genres: Young Adult, Teen, Romance, Contemporary, Fiction

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 5, 2007

About the author

I've lived in a lot of places and done a lot of things - much of which has informed my writing in some fashion. I love writing fish-out-of-water stories and books about characters who move to new places and try new things. I wish I could be as bold as Meg Shanley in LOVE, MEG and as fearless as Veronica May in ALL ABOUT VEE. I have other stories and other characters and hopefully, one day you will read about them too.

Reviews

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed by Jeremey for TeensReadToo.com

Teenager Meg Shanley and her thrity-year-old sister, Lucie, are moving from town to town, looking for a better life. Their parents are gone and Lucie has taken over the role as mother to Meg, although she has not done a very good job of it. Lucie tends to think more along the lines of what's best for herself instead of what's best for Meg. Meg must travel with Lucie because she has no other family to go to.

When Lucie abandons her motherly role, Meg finds a new "mother," Jennifer Aniston. Meg writes all of her worries and woes in a letter - and Jennifer Aniston actually replies! The replies are motherly, filled with caring and solutions to her problems. Jen is more of a mother to Meg than Lucie is of a sister.

One day, a strange man arrives at Meg and Lucie's Los Angeles house bringing a horrifying truth: Lucie is not exactly who she has been pretending to be. The man, Lonnie, explains that Meg has a grandmother and even a father back in New York. No one knows anything about Meg's father, though, except that he doesn't even know that Meg exists.

With Lucie's words of "If you go, don't come back" imprinted on her mind, Meg hops on a plane to New York to find a family she never knew existed - and what she finds is much more than she expected...

If I could give LOVE, MEG a higher rating I would! This book totally captivated me and made me look forward to continuing my reading. LOVE, MEG is a book I will lend and recommend to other readers proudly. I cannot explain how amazing I thought this book was.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book I read it in less than 5 hours.
It is about a girl that thought her family was dead and then finds out that they are alive and in another state so she goes down there in search for her dod that doesn't know she even exisists and if he will accept her. It is am awsome to read book.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very very typical young adult novel. Though some of the details were interesting, the whole thing played out pretty much as expected. Parts were a bit too soap-opera-y for me, but I suppose most teenage girls are into melodrama. The premise that a 16-year-old girl would actually believe that Jennifer Aniston, famous actress, would write letters to her and consider her a friend was a bit disturbing to me. Granted, she had a bit of a tough life, but she's described as a rather smart girl. Clearly her intelligence does not apply to this delusion. Also not a fan of the convenient knocking-off of Meg's grandmother. Felt like a cop-out.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was about a young girl's journey into finding out who she is and where she came from.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. I was alittle skeptical because of the YA genre but I am so glad I gave it a chance

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Loved this book ^_^ I'm not quite sure why, But I do!!!

[Nora · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author of this book came to my school and she was great!
i love this book, but don't expect thatt much
happy reading!

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hello, everyone! Today I just finished a book titled Love, Meg. I am going to take this time to review the book which I rate three out of five stars. I do warn you that this will have spoilers in it, so if you don't want to know what happens, I suggest you stop here.

I have two major faults against this book which adds up to the two missing stars. Let's start with number one- the TV aspect. Now, when I "TV aspect" I mean that some of the things that happen in the book are so crazily far fetched in a realistic setting that you could only imagine seeing this happen on TV. Move to Hollywood to get a fresh start? Sure. Older sister's boyfriend actually sticks around for once? Cute. Fly to New York City (from Hollywood) to find yourself in strangers you've never met? You're losing me... You're whole life you've been pretty, but you don't click with the clique and get the hot boyfriend until just now? Mm 'kay now I'm gone. If I wanted to watch a soap, I would turn on my TV. I would definitely categorize this as a "beach read" and worthy of its three stars.

The second part of my argument has to go with predictability. The twists were so outlandish they were almost too easy to spot coming. The protagonist's sister is really her mother! Her uncle has a girlfriend and wants to get married five minutes (I'm using hyperbole, it was really about ten) after burying his spiteful mother! WHO, killed herself buy falling asleep with a lit cigarette and burning the ENTIRE HOUSE DOWN! Oh and not to mention said protagonist now without a home flies BACK to her sister/mother, and awww.... all of the letter responses she got from Jennifer Aniston were really from her sis/mom? So touching. And while I'm at it, we are left assuming that her boyfriend magically convinced his parents to FLY him out to California to "visit" colleges because well, he's so fantastic and amazing!

So if you haven't read the book most of what I just wrote (in the spoiler) won't make sense, But there were some not so subtle hints leading up to all of the "twists." So in a nutshell, if you asked me what I thought of the book I would tell you,"Cute story, but not exactly enthralling."

[Cindy Hudson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meg believes she knows everything about her life. Her parents are dead and her older sister, Lucy, has cared for her ever since she was a baby. They travel from town to town in California, following Lucy's jobs and boyfriends. Meg has learned to be self-sufficient since she was very young, because Lucy is overwhelmed providing for the two of them on her own.

For years she has turned to Jennifer Aniston—the actress from friends—for emotional support, writing her letters detailing the difficulties she faces in school and at home. Jen has always written back with great advice and sometimes even gifts to help Meg through rough situations. When Meg starts another new school to go with a new apartment that follows Lucy's new boyfriend, she thinks her life will continue to follow this pattern for years to come.

Then a man shows up at the apartment Meg shares with Lucy claiming to be her uncle from New York. He talks about a family back east that she knows nothing about, and tries to convince Lucy to go there. Suddenly, everything Meg thinks she knows about her life changes, and when Lucy refuses to reconnect with her family, Meg sets off without her. Moving to New York becomes a journey of self-discovery as well as a way to get to know the family she never had.

What she finds is not what she expects, but she discovers a lot about herself and the true meaning of family along the way.

Love, Meg looks at what it means to be a mother, a daughter, a grandmother, and all the ways that family can support us as well as tear us down. I recommend it for mother-daughter book clubs with girls in 7th grade and up.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me quote the best part of this book.

The Durant public library was on Sunset Boulevard across the street from a liquor store and kitty-corner to a Fantastic Sam's. It was brand new, with skylights and a machine where people could check out books by themselves. It had, nevertheless, acquired a bum stink from all the homeless people who slept on its steps every night.

As someone who WORKS at this library, I was excited to see a cameo in Love, Meg. But I need to correct a couple of inaccuracies. No liquor store anymore; just multiple weed dispensaries. Also, we never had a automated check-out machine. But the bum stink is all very real.

Sadly, after that, I'm less interested in this book. There are some twists and turns, but nothing interesting happens. And Juny, the love interest, is so boring -- when in actuality, he shouldn't be. A protagonist that moves schools and towns a lot can be done well. I'm reminded of Sarah Dessen's What Happened to Goodbye. But Love, Meg isn't too engaging. The Jennifer Aniston references seem really dated. And the relationships don't actually seem realistic in the slightest. I took 3 weeks to read this book; I put it down and didn't really want to pick it back up.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book, it was a very quick read for me, about a teenager growing up with her sister, who was doing the best she knew how to raise her but coming up very short. Meg loved the show Friends and her idol was Jennifer Aniston, and she wrote her letters asking for advice whenever anything came up in her life. Jen was like the best friend she never got to keep for long, as her sister moved them around all the time and her friends didn't forgot her as soon as she moved on. This book is about finding out her sister isn't what she thought she was all of those years and she has a family in NEW YORK, where Friends was filmed ! and going there to meet them and find out who she really is ! It was a very cute book, I had a question or two I didn't get resolved at the end of the book, but mostly it was very well told. I highly recommend this book.

[Lola · Rating 1 out of 5]

the cover on this book is misleading and the book itself is all over the place. so much was going on that nothing made sense. it was boring and unoriginal. fallowed by an annoying main character and not so supporting side characters. i honestly had no connection with any of the characters and felt nothing for them. i think that it was just jumbled together for the purpose of making a book. thank god it was a gift and that i didn't spend my own money on it. VERY DISAPPOINTING BOOK! i would give it 0 stars but i had to give it something on good reads.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author is coming to my library to talk to the Teens. I had better read it so I can ask some questions! Should be a good program, Leigh was a writer for The Gilmore Girls and 7th Heaven.

Quick read. It was good. I got some great ideas of themes for the talk as well as a food display that ties into the characters.

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I'd hate it since I've never had a celebrity crush, but this book rocks. Its tension is so immediate and I really loved Meg. That the situation life handed her is difficult is an understatement and the way she evolves into a girl who can deal with it is believable. I was rooting for her the whole time

[Kaci Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay. I didn't like it at all until about halfway through. I felt like the main character Meg was very childish. The things she said and did were almost ridiculous at times. It was a pretty good story though, and some parts were interesting. It wasn't too bad but I probably won't ever read it again.

[Katerina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main character, Meg, struck me as a girl looking for answers in the most hopeless way. She was scared, but determined. Yet the scared part of her noticeably dominated over the determined part of her. I admit I didn't really like the book, but the book kept me engaged until the end, which, was a pathetic ending.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really great book for younger readers. I enjoyed the relationships that Meg experienced in this book; some heart warming and others heart wrenching. The ending was also so bittersweet and enjoyable. However, I absolutely HATED all of the "Jennifer Aniston" talk. It drove me nuts, but I understand the importance of Jen in Meg's life.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meg has an unstable, complicated life with only one bedrock: her correspondence with Jennifer Aniston. This book is a pretty fast read. However, the characters are two-dimensional, and the ending seems a bit trite.

[Kylie D]

This book was given four stars because it shows how good of a friendship you can truly have with your mother. I also liked how this book is a mystery page after page and the ending is such a surprise! This book was really good to read and I couldn't put it down!

[Randy Lavender · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, well conceived and written, especially strong dialogue.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hated the ending of this book... it just ruined the whole thing for me.

[Cammeo]

would like to read...

[Maurice · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say, great writing.

[Maurice · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's the same as the hardcover, wonderful book... Odd that those reviews aren't here.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting. It's like a soap opera.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book kept me surprised each time I turned the page! I loved it and have suggested it to all my friends!

[Tina P · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was a good book about family, not my favorite but still really entertaining and interesting.

[Kallan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of odd, but all-in-all pretty interesting.

[Sabrina Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little story about a girl finding her way... it was a quick, enjoyable read... nice to step away from the fantasy world for a bit.

[Mare · Rating 4 out of 5]

About a girl who grows up without traditional things and family and her search to be normal. She gets many betrals and good surprises - a nice albeit very read.