Rob&Sara.com

by P.J. Petersen

ALL OUR READERS

Rob & Sara

Our Story

Don’t worry. I’m weird, but I’m not dangerous. And I won’t send you ads.

The truth is, I couldn’t bear to go back to the way things were before you read my poem. Maybe it doesn’t matter who you are. . . .

They’ve never met.

They’re hundreds of miles apart.

He won’t tell her his real name.

And they have nothing in common.

Or do they?


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

P. J. Petersen grew up on a farm six miles from Geyserville, California. He says, "I was sure that I lived in the most boring place in the world--a prune farm in the middle of nowhere. Since my family didn't have the time or money to travel, I did my traveling through books. I read everything I could get my hands on. Most of my books came from the Geyserville Public Library, which was one tiny room served by the county Bookmobile. I loved the place, especially on the day after the Bookmobile came."
Mr. Petersen wanted to be a writer from the beginning. He had other ambitions, like being an airline pilot and a baseball player, but he always intended to write books.

He was not an immediate success. He wrote seriously for over twenty years without selling a single word. Then he had his best idea--to write a book for his daughter Karen, a seventh grader at the time. He had never written for young people, but he knew the kind of books his daughter liked. That book, WOULD YOU SETTLE FOR IMPROBABLE?, was his first published novel. He has been writing books for young people ever since.

Mr. Petersen lives with his wife, Marian, in Redding, California. He has two grown daughters, Karen and Carla, and two grandchildren, Ryan and Emma. A graduate of Stanford University with a Ph.D. in American literature from the University of New Mexico, he taught at Shasta College from 1964 to December 2000. Now that he has retired from teaching, he is available for school visits, workshops, or conferences.

Reviews

[Tara A · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite YA novel. Although the Internet references are sliiiiightly dated, it really doesn't matter. I also emailed the authors after reading it to tell them I enjoyed the book, and they both sent kind replies.

[Kimberly Bower MLIS (gladeslibrarian) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hopefully, you won't consider this statement to be a spoiler. Neither Rob nor Sara is an online predator. This story falls outside the media frenzy which warns of the dangers of talking to strangers on the internet. Wouldn't it be nice to be valued by someone without concern for looks, fashion or finances? Rob has dealt with the circumstances of his life by running away - often resulting in harm to others - and now finds himself in a boot camp for troubled teens. If he doesn't stay put at "Camp Feelgood" his next stop will be prison. Sara, an army brat, has lived all over the world but has no place to call home. Just when she gets comfortable, her father is transferred and she has to move again. Worst of all, high school friends don't travel well. Rob, Sara and others meet in an online poetry chat room to critique each other's poems. Rob and Sara connect when they find things in common other than writing poetry. Their friendship flourishes through online letters. With Sara as his confidant Rob resists the urge to flee and in so doing discovers `the real Rob'. Sara finds in Rob an anchor and confidant. Together they take on the challenges and angst of teen life.

Rob&sara.com kept me up until the wee hours. I just couldn't put it down! With plenty of surprises along the way, this book is a satisfying and enjoyable read.

[Rachelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rob&Sara.com is one of the better written "penpal" type books I've read in awhile. Authors P.J. Petersen and Ivy Ruckman wrote this book by exchanging emails in real life as RobCruise66 and Sara4348 (exact numbers may be off since I've already returned the book and cannot reference). Rob and Sara are two teens who meet through a teen poetry message board. The two develop a friendship and ultimately a romantic relationship, but the authors take their time and let things blossom naturally. I appreciate that this was a "clean" read-no cuss words or sexual innuendos. I know that teens these days do cuss and have sex, but Rob and Sara by no means sounded "square" or made up. Quite the contrary, and I hope Petersen and Ruckman co-author more books in the future.

[R i da ♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

My second favorite book of all times :)

[Sara Schreiber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unique, unexpected, brilliant.

[Stephanie A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neither character is all that great, but I fell for the rapport of their back-and-forth anyway. Was charmed by their email addresses (Yahoo & AOL!), their emoticons, and just the whole formatting of the book. I can't believe, when we were all bemoaning how email replaced physical letters, that we never stopped to appreciate the fact that they were still LETTERS, but here we are. In a world where written personal communication has become dominated by text messages and short social media comments, it was just really nice to step back into 2004 and see proper emails again, in all their time delay. It WAS exciting to sign online and find a new one from a friend in your inbox.

I was wondering what sort of plot was going to emerge but willing to find out as the messages unfolded, and I was not disappointed by the number of twists and turns that made me gasp. It all came to a very satisfying conclusion, too. The fact that they ended up falling in love is adorable, and I have to admit, it took me by surprise. It shouldn't have, because YA, but it did because they had never seen each other before. Him rushing to sit by her hospital bed was very swoon-worthy. Clever usage of a handwritten note as a way to break out of the email boundaries without abandoning the epistolary format in order to show us that.

I also just really love the idea that this story was developed "one message at a time" by the authors sending emails back and forth to each other for months.

[Monica Caldicott]

TO: ALL OUR READERS
From: Rob & Sara
Subject: Our Story
 Rob: Don't worry. I'm weird, but I'm not dangerous. And I won't send you ads.
 Sara: The truth is, I couldn't bear to go back to the way things were before you read my poem. Maybe it doesn't matter who you are. . . .
 They've never met. They're hundreds of miles apart. He won't tell her his real name. And they have nothing in common. Or do they?
Fittingly, the coauthors sent each other sequential e-mails, written in the authentic-sounding voices of the two title characters, to create this involving novel.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book 8 years ago, when I was in high school. It was summertime and I wanted a quick & easy read right before I went on a trip. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. I like pen pal stories and this one is one for modern times! It was absolutely adorable! The fact it is based on a true story increased my interest in this book. It was a beautiful story, really. I remember staying up late the night before I went on my trip to finish it because I knew if I didn't, I'd spend the whole trip thinking about it!! I recommend for all young adults!

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 "loners" meet on a poetry bboard & start emailing: army brat & a juvie

[Kimberly Westrope · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always love finding books that are written a little differently than the norm. Rob and Sara's story is told entirely through their emails to one another and to a few of their friends. They meet on a poetry posting board and begin emailing one another. As their friendship is developing, they sometimes question whether or not the other person is really who they say they are. After all, it is the internet, a well-known outlet for people pretending to be someone other than themselves.

There are a few little twists that I found quite interesting. The characters are very likable, and the story unfolds at a good pace. It is an easy and quick read, and a sweet story.

[Ashley Justice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book 8 years ago, when I was in high school. It was summertime and I wanted a quick & easy read right before I went on a trip. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. I like pen pal stories and this one is one for modern times! It was absolutely adorable! The fact it is based on a true story increased my interest in this book. It was a beautiful story, really. I remember staying up late the night before I went on my trip to finish it because I knew if I didn't, I'd spend the whole trip thinking about it!! I recommend for all young adults!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very quick read. I thought the characters would be a little older but it didn't really bother me. It's funny because my sister's name is Sara and my brother-in-law's name is Rob and they met on the internet so I thought it was kind of funny, but it was different than this. Still pretty good.

[Monny · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's amazing house technology can bring two completely different people together. All it takes is the love for something. No matter how faraway you are from one another, you feel inseparable, and the hundred miles seen like a feet.

[Ann Feutz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very sweet book about two people who connect as email pals. They are teenagers. They do fall in love. The parents and adults that learn about it handle it well. The Internet references are dated, but the story itself is well done. Especially the limericks. They made me giggle out loud.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

email letters, sweet ending, Utah author

[Rhiannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story about two kids emailing each other.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not nearly as bad as I was expecting.

[Janis Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book I wish I didn't give away. I'm a sucker for pen-pal stories since I love sending and receiving mail>< so innovative and stomach-fluttering at times:)

[Astoria (Jax) · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was really really really really cute!

[Brittany Freeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was a very cute book

[Karrigen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The novel Rob and Sara.com by Petersen P.J. was not very interesting in my opinion. There’s to main characters in this book Rob who lives in a school for troubled teens and Sara a sixteen year old who dad is a army colonel so she lives here and there that wishes for a place to call home. They both are members of a chat-room for poets. Sara loved to write poetry and posted hers on that chat quite often. She also got a lot of people bashing her poems but not Rob he liked her poems. He seen a lot of people saying negative things so he thought she might want to know that at least one person loved them so he emailed her and that started Rob and Sara’s relationship. Letter by letter they grew closer and trusted one another a little more and revels more ab there personal life. They both are teens who are lonely and that’s what makes there bond grow so fast. They both live very far away from each other and long for a day to meet face to face. Then Sara gets in a accident and Rob gets so worried he makes this master plan to escape the troubled teens school. Will he finally get to see her? I honestly didn’t like the ending of this book it didn’t finish and wasn’t that happy of a ending. Some similar books are In Care Of Cassie Tucker by Ivy Ruckman also Tell It To Naomi by Daniel Ehrenhaft.