Girl on the Run - B.R. Myers

I love to read YA books, I have no embarrassment about it at all. At 25 years old, I still go back and read the YA books that made waves in my life as a teenage. I've found that YA has changed and grown into so much more than what it was even just 8 years ago. While there is now New Adult, Young Adult continues to bring much to the table for teen readers. While many are comical, several deal with the angst that teenagers face daily, especially as they seem to grow up far faster than they used to. Girl on the Run is one of those books that takes grief, growing up, and normal teenage angst and weaves an amazing story of coming of age. I highly recommend this one and absolutely plan to list it as one of my new favorite summer reads.

Rating: 4 Stars
Published: September 2015
Many thanks to YA Bound Book Tours and B.R. Myers for providing a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Jesse had big dreams, until the death of her dad had her putting away her running shoes and putting on a fake smile to please everyone. With a lot of guilt on her chest, Jesse heads off to be a counselor at a summer camp. Fate seems to have it out for Jesse though and she's listed as a boys counselor. Determined to see the summer out, Jesse faces their pranks and the growing attraction she has for fellow counselor, Kirk, with drive, embarrassment, and a journal full of her thoughts. Along the way, Jesse puts her sneakers on again and finds what she was missing when she gave up running.

Wow, this book absolutely sucked me in. It's true, the first 20% leaves you super confused, you have no idea what you're getting into, the angst Jesse suffers from is an unknown, and there's a lot of talk about kissing. However, the more you read, the more you get to know Jesse and all she's been through. You find yourself wanting her to get kissed, to put her sneakers on again, and most of all to stop feeling so much guilt. She's a 17 year old girl that has so much going on and that leads to a great story of coming of age. The character development for all the characters is phenomenal, B.R. Myers has a way of slowly bringing a character to life before you eyes. I literally found myself liking Kirk at the same time Jesse did, because as a reader we didn't fully know who he was until Jesse gave into knowing him too. I think that made this book all the more worthwhile for me, because it felt realistic. Additionally, while dealing with all this guilt, Jesse is still a normal teenage girl who's set out to try all the kissing she can and separate herself from her high school image. Jesse inner dialogue will leave you laughing, even when you shouldn't be, and her constant sharing of Jesse Owens' factoids will help you understand her history far more than you expect them to.

This is definitely a young adult novel I would suggest to all teen girls or parents of teens. There's a lot of personal growth and while the misadventures may leave you cringing, there is a lesson weaving through the entire story. It's a fun read that captures the action packed summer of camp with the mix of teenage changes and finding oneself.