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Summary
Summary
Recklessly loyal. That's how seventeen-year-old Arden Huntley has always thought of herself. Taking care of her loved ones is what gives Arden purpose in her life and makes her feel like she matters. But lately she's grown resentful of everyone--including her needy best friend and her absent mom--taking her loyalty for granted.
Then Arden stumbles upon a website called Tonight the Streets Are Ours, the musings of a young New York City writer named Peter, who gives voice to feelings that Arden has never known how to express. He seems to get her in a way that no one else does, and he hasn't even met her.
Until Arden sets out on a road trip to find him.
During one crazy night out in New York City filled with parties, dancing, and music--the type of night when anything can happen, and nearly everything does--Arden discovers that Peter isn't exactly who she thought he was. And maybe she isn't exactly who she thought she was, either.
Author Notes
Leila Sales is the author of the novels This Song Will Save Your Life , Mostly Good Girls , and Past Perfect.
This Song Will Save Your Life garnered two starred reviews, was included on the American Library Association's Best Fiction for Young Adults list, was one of Bank Street College of Education's Best Books of the Year, and was listed as one of the Best YA Books of 2013 by Buzzfeed.com. It has been published in ten foreign countries, and it has been optioned for stage and film development.
Leila grew up outside of Boston, Massachusetts, and graduated with a degree in psychology from the University of Chicago. When she's not writing, she spends her time thinking about sleeping, kittens, chocolate, and how to get more of all of them. Leila lives in Brooklyn, New York, and works in children's book publishing.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-The author taps into the anxiety, insecurity, and hurt that people experience when they think that they are giving more love than they receive. Arden Huntley's naïve understanding of relationships partially comes from her mother, who taught her in word and by example that one person always takes care of the other as a gardener nurtures flowers. Arden fully believes this theory and has built an identity around it: she is "recklessly loyal." She reaches a breaking point when she starts to feel that her love and support are underappreciated, especially by her boyfriend and her best friend. Seeking solace online, Arden discovers "Tonight the Streets Are Ours," a blog written by a guy named Peter in New York City. The teen not only finds comfort in Peter's writing, but begins to feel invested in his life and happiness. Sales understands the intense bond that readers can have with bloggers and she uses this to propel Arden into a transformative road trip to find Peter. Some readers, particularly those touched by adoption, may find themselves taken out of the story when they are introduced to a character with an unusual backstory: a white boy who was adopted by Asian American parents. However, there's no acknowledgement of how unique and against expectations it is. It's unclear how this creative decision serves the plot or characters and given that it occurs during a pivotal moment in the book, it's worth noting. VERDICT Teens who enjoy books about the balance of friendship with individual identity formation will find much to think about in this novel.-Joy Piedmont, LREI, New York City © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
As a child, Arden gave away a Disney World trip to Lindsey, a friend whose family was down on its luck, leading an American Girl-esque company to make Arden its Girl of the Year and launch a lookalike doll it described as "recklessly loyal." Now in high school, Arden is getting tired of writing "blank check[s]" of support to loved ones and not getting the same in return. After Arden discovers a blog written by a 17-year-old romantic named Peter, she quickly grows immersed in Peter's world, eventually driving to New York City with Lindsey to find him. Peter's blog entries are intermixed with Arden's story, making it easy to understand why she is drawn to him; from there, Sales (This Song Will Save Your Life) takes her story on surprising turns as Arden learns what it really means to love someone. Not all of the interactions feel realistic (Arden's heart-to-heart with Peter's on-again, off-again love, Bianca, seems unlikely for teens who just met), but it's easy to get caught up in Arden's exhilaration as she starts living life on her own terms. Ages 12-up. Agent: Stephen Barbara, Inkwell Management. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Fed up with how taken for granted she feels by everyone in her life, seventeen-year-old Arden Googles the question, Why doesnt anyone love me as much as I love them? The query leads her to Peter, a boy her age who writes an online journal called Tonight the Streets Are Ours. Arden cant stop reading Peters blog; she thinks he understands her in a way others dont. So, on a day shes feeling particularly unloved, Arden and her best friend, Lindsey, drive six hours from Cumberland, Maryland, to New York City to find him. What follows is a wild night involving a party at an art fraternity, a fight with Lindsey, a limousine, a doll store, and Peter himself, who isnt the person Arden imagined. Alternating poignancy and humor, and with obvious compassion for her characters, Sales (This Song Will Save Your Life, rev. 9/13) gently imparts subtle wisdom about truth in storytelling, asserting independence, and, above all, what it means to love someone (and not just romantically). Maybe loving somebody means simply they bring out the best in you, and you bring out the best in themso that together, you are always the best possible versions of yourselves, Arden muses in a fitting epilogue, proving just how far shes come emotionally. rachel l. smith (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
"Recklessly loyal" Arden learns that there is such a thing as too much giving. Some people, Arden's mom says, are gardeners, and some people are flowers. Hapless, impulsive Lindsey has been the flower to Arden's gardener since the two met as children. Left to her own devices, Lindsey gets into trouble by stashing drugs in Arden's locker or by provoking the ire of the popular crowd when she asks out a girl who turns out to be straight. (It's too bad these two acts are so neatly equated.) Arden's mother, also a gardener, has left the family abruptly for New York, and Arden is left picking up her oblivious father's slack. Frustrated one night, Arden types a query into an Internet search box"Why doesn't anybody love me as much as I love them?"and finds herself captivated by a blog that pops up as a result. It's never fully clear what about Tonight the Streets Are Ours or its wealthy, NYC-dwelling, 17-year-old author, Peter, appeals so strongly to Arden, but the story of Peter's tumultuous romance with a girl named Bianca provides an escape from Arden's increasingly exhausting obligations. The prose is crisp and full of subtle, comic detail, and the girls' climactic trip to New York provides an epic resolution. Despite occasional predictable or contrived moments, Arden's tale is insightful throughout. (Fiction. 12-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Arden has always taken care of others, especially her BFF Lindsey, even when it hurts (like taking the punishment for Lindsey's pot being found in her locker). But, at some point, you have to dream for yourself. When she stumbles on Peter's blog, she realizes that she wants to explore more of what life has to offer, and the result is a spur-of-the-moment trip to New York City to find Peter. In this novel of exploration and discovery, Arden wrestles with her parents' separation; with her need to be needed; and, most of all, with her own identity and independence. Sales (This Song Will Save Your Life, 2013) breaks up the normal plot rhythm with excerpts from Peter's blog, and though the characters are not remarkable and plot twists are not entirely surprising, most teen readers will not care. This romantic adventure will grab fans of Rachel Cohen and David Levithan's Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2006) and of Sarah Dessen, particularly with Arden's desire to flirt with danger.--Moore, Melissa Copyright 2015 Booklist