Grade: B+
Whisked away from the comfort of her Chicago home, Jessie now lives in California with her father’s movie star wife and her self involved son. On her first day of school she receives an anonymous email from Somebody/Nobody (SN), a potential friend who helps her navigate her new snobby private school. She soon develops a crush on SN, starts making friends and begins to feel slightly at home, but her relationship with her father is at an all time low, and she misses her mother, who died almost two years before. May California won’t be too bad, if SN is who she thinks it is.
TELL ME THREE THINGS refers to how Jessie and SN get to know each other. I truly enjoyed reading this book, from start to finish. Jessie was so easy to embrace. Losing a parent is hard. Moving is hard. Being the new kid is hard. Gaining a stepfamily is hard. Heck, just being a teenager is hard. Through it all, Jessie never loses herself. She’s both stronger and more vulnerable than she realizes.
The cast of minor characters were diverse, though not defined by their atypical attributes. Except for a few stereotypical mean girls, nobody felt generic.
Julie Buxbaum gave Jessie a likable, sardonic, sometimes humorous voice. I enjoyed the email and instant message aspects of the story.
For as much as I liked reading TELL ME THREE THINGS, I don’t think it’s a story I’ll feel the desire to revisit. It wasn’t particularly unique and it didn’t wow me enough to put on the reread list. Still, I do recommend it as an enjoyable story.