Among other things, a love story

When I was a kid, I used to devour all the books I could get my hands on. Those days, they were invariably the classic Grimm’s and Anderson fairy tales, Thousand and one nights or those tales of gods and goddesses from Greek times. As I got older, I discovered Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. And maybe it was because I was especially sheltered, the most I got with respect to love stories and their ilk were the Sweet Valley High romance books written by Francine Pascal. Looking back now, it amazes me no end to realize that the reading material available to teenagers now is so much more varied, dealing of much more daring and “adult” topics and more than ever such great quality. It was thus such a pleasure to read How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff.
It is the story of Daisy, a 15 year old American sent off to England to live with her cousins. Her first few days are idyllic and she slowly begins to make a home there and even more importantly, falls in love with Edmond. Her idyll doesn’t last however as England is invaded by an unnamed enemy and soon they are separated from each other. Over the course of the war years, Daisy learns the difficult lessons needed to survive as well as learns how to take care of those she comes to love more than herself. From a selfish and immature teen, Daisy evolves into a caring and strong person and readers’ won’t be able to help but cheer her on.
There isn't much to say except that it is a great book. Equally honest, moving and smart, it won hordes of accolades when it was first published, and all of them are well deserved. The author captures perfectly the voice and character of a troubled young woman learning to survive things that are bigger than she is. But what is really moving about this book is the love story between Daisy and Edmond which is beautifully captured and described. One gets a real sense of the passionate urgency of young love newly awakened as well as the bruising desperation that comes from being torn apart from your loved one. It was defintely hard to put down this book yet when I finished I kept wishing I had more to read about Daisy and Edmond