Books I've Read: Here, There, Everywhere

This was an easy, quick read, but felt like it was meant for an audience younger than YA in many ways. I didn't dislike it at all, but there was something about it that felt off to me and I couldn't give myself over to the story as completely as I really wanted to.

The main character is Zeus (short for Jesus), the only Mexiwegian in the new small town he's moved to.  It's summer and he's tasked with looking after his little brother and doing food delivery for his mother who has just opened at cafe in the town.  Zeus is pretty sure everything about the town sucks until he delivers a salad to the nursing home and meets Rose.

Pretty soon he and Rose are dating and Zeus is making other friends around town, mainly due to his deliveries and his mother's amazing brownies.  Everything seems perfect until Zeus discovers that Rose isn't any happier in the small town than he was when he arrived.  She's counting the hours until she finds out if she gets the scholarship that will allow her to go to New York to study music at the end of the summer.

With the romance feeling like it unfolds way too quickly, to a rather superfluous subplot involving theft at the rest home, this is a book that just doesn't quite gel the way it should.  Some of the best characters are the supporting ones - rest home residents, the other kids in the band Zeus joins - which serves only to make Rose and Zeus appear more bland.  Rose especially.  She's one of those female characters who just seems to good to be true.

There are things I definitely enjoyed about this book, but it certainly wouldn't be one I'd be telling everyone I meet they have to read.  But certainly not a bad way to fill in a Sunday afternoon,

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:

Zeus would rather be anywhere than here—Buffalo Falls—the tiny town his family moved to at the end of the school year. Having left all his friends back in Chicago and with nothing to look forward to except helping out at his mother’s café and biking around town with his weird little brother, Zeus is pretty sure this is destined to be the worst summer of his life.

But then he meets Rose—funny, beautiful, smart, and an incredible musician.

Zeus can hardly believe that someone like her exists, let alone seems interested in being with him. However, while Zeus is counting down the minutes until he can see her next, Rose is counting down the days until she finds out whether she will be able to leave their small town to pursue her dreams. As the afternoons spent going on local adventures pass into nights discussing their deepest hopes, Zeus knows that he doesn’t have long to convince Rose that what they have is more than a summer fling…if only he’s brave enough to seize the chance.