Love, Meg | 
| Author: C. Leigh Purtill
Publisher: Razorbill
Category: Book
List Price: $8.99
Buy Used: $2.31
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Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 1111258
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Pages: 304
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 1
ISBN: 1595141472
EAN: 9781595141477
ASIN: 1595141472
Publication Date: April 10, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Fans of Sarah Dessen s Just Listen will fall in love with this gorgeously written story of one girl s search for her family and herself. Sixteen-year-old Meg Shanley has to start life over again in Los Angeles because her thirtyyear- old sister Lucie can t get it together. Lucie is always chasing a new man, quitting her job, and packing up their lives. Meg wishes she didn t have to count on Lucie, but she s the only family Meg has ever known. Then a man arrives on their doorstep and reveals a shocking truth: Back in New York Meg has an uncle, a grandmother, and a father who might not even know she exists. Meg sees an opportunity to have the family she s always dreamed about. She summons all her will, defies Lucie, and travels to New York. But happiness, she discovers, doesn t lie in a new family. Instead it rests in the true source of her inner strength; in a secret that has been buried deep inside her heart.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 Courtesy of Mother Daughter Book Club.com December 30, 2008
Cynthia Hudson (Portland, OR)
Meg believes she knows everything about her life. Her parents are dead and her older sister, Lucy, has cared for her ever since she was a baby. They travel from town to town in California, following Lucy's jobs and boyfriends. Meg has learned to be self-sufficient since she was very young, because Lucy is overwhelmed providing for the two of them on her own.
For years she has turned to Jennifer Aniston--the actress from friends--for emotional support, writing her letters detailing the difficulties she faces in school and at home. Jen has always written back with great advice and sometimes even gifts to help Meg through rough situations. When Meg starts another new school to go with a new apartment that follows Lucy's new boyfriend, she thinks her life will continue to follow this pattern for years to come.
Then a man shows up at the apartment Meg shares with Lucy claiming to be her uncle from New York. He talks about a family back east that she knows nothing about, and tries to convince Lucy to go there. Suddenly, everything Meg thinks she knows about her life changes, and when Lucy refuses to reconnect with her family, Meg sets off without her. Moving to New York becomes a journey of self-discovery as well as a way to get to know the family she never had.
What she finds is not what she expects, but she discovers a lot about herself and the true meaning of family along the way.
Love, Meg looks at what it means to be a mother, a daughter, a grandmother, and all the ways that family can support us as well as tear us down. I recommend it for mother-daughter book clubs with girls in 7th grade and up.
could NOT put it down December 29, 2008
budababy (Los Angeles, CA USA)
I read this all in one day because I could not put it down! I wanted to find out what happened to Meg and her sister Lucie and everyone else in the book. The characters are well drawn and very realistic. Their conversations, their quirks, their anger and shame and love - it all comes across in a way that is very fulfilling to the reader. I loved the idea of Jennifer Aniston offering advice to Meg. I loved the people she meets in Astoria - those who love and accept her and those who hurt her. I particularly liked how strong the locations are: Hollywood and Astoria. I've been to both and I know they are accurate descriptions. There is such a strong sense of place in this book which helps with how thoroughly grounded and real this story is. I am looking forward to reading more by Leigh Purtill, and I will be donating this one to our middle/high school library and encouraging my students to check it out.
Couldn't get my daughter to look up from this book! November 19, 2008
Claire LaZebnik
My 11-year-old daughter was so entranced by this book that I couldn't get her to pay attention to anything I said while she was reading it. Finally, when she was nearing the end, she begged me to let her stay up late to finish it--she insisted she couldn't go to sleep without knowing what happened to the characters. I've never seen her so passionate about a book. She absolutely loved it, and we're going to be looking for more books by this author!
Beautifully written & uplifting November 11, 2008
Reader Views (Austin, Texas)
Reviewed by Rachael Stein (age 15) for Reader Views (11/08)
Sixteen-year-old Margaret Shanley, currently known as Meg, is getting tired of having to move from place to place because her thirty-year-old sister Lucie can't manage to stay in one place long enough for Meg to call it home. Meg does understand that they do not have much money, but she still wishes for more stability in her hectic life. The latest move, to Hollywood, seems to be just as trying as the others, and so Meg writes to Jennifer Aniston for advice, as she's done for years. Never mind that Jen hasn't written in a while; Meg just needs to feel she has a friend in the world, especially after a strange man appears at Meg and Lucie's home. That's when Meg finally discovers the truth that Lucie is actually her mother, and not her older sister as Meg had always thought, and that Meg has a family and a father in New York. And so she goes to the Big Apple, in search of love, acceptance, and her elusive father. And what Meg learns from her trip will change her forever.
"Love, Meg" was a very well-written and moving story that I immensely enjoyed reading. There is a very realistic quality to Purtill's writing which manifests itself in the authenticity of the characters and most of the plot. Each of the characters in "Love, Meg" was evidently crafted with care, from main character Meg to even the smaller ones like her uncle Lonnie and her grandmother Alma. I could really connect with Meg's character through her emotions and the trials she had to go through. I appreciated her maturity and determination as well as her flaws. I really liked how Purtill didn't make Meg's antagonists into strict angels of perfection or evil villains; their flaws are rather large but the reasons behind these flaws or how the characters deal with them make them so human.
Plotwise, "Love, Meg" is sound. I would, however, have liked there to have been some sort of resolution or closure between Meg and her grandmother Alma because I felt their relationship was cut a little short. Even if the story in "Love, Meg" doesn't end completely happily, it is nonetheless full of hope. It would be sweet for Meg to have a happily-ever-after, but it is more realistic that her experience in New York ends with some accomplishments and some disappointments. Reading Meg's story really makes one value whatever family and friends one has.
"Love, Meg" by C. Leigh Purtill was a very satisfying read because of its realistic characters and story and its meaningful message. This novel will be popular among all teen readers, especially fans of Sarah Dessen and Deb Caletti.
Author Leigh Purtill has an important new voice October 27, 2008
Medora de la Cruz (Hermosa Beach, CA USA)
In both of her books "Love Meg" and "All About Vee" author Leigh Purtill is speaking in a new voice to a new generation of young people. My recommendation comes from a professional background of thirty eight years of teaching and from my personal history as a mother of two daughters and a grandmother of three teenaged granddaughters. My oldest daughter is a high school counselor for students with high risk behavior and dysfunctional families. I have seen attitudes change from the idealism of Hollywood's romantic fairy tales. These forces have been confronted by Ms. Purtill's insistent ability to tackle the sensitive realities of family dynamics and young lives. I recommend that these important books are not just for young people but should be required reading for entire families. Medora "Wildenberg" de la Cruz, Professor Emeritus, El Camino CA College, CA
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