How Far is Too Far?

I am an avid fan of Sarah Dessen. I love the "chick flick" YA with fixable conflict and happy endings. They always leave me with that warm, fuzzy feeling! So when I read the description of Going too Far by Jennifer Echols, I was so excited! I am always looking for a pseudo-Dessen to pass the time between her latest and newest novels.

Granted, Going too Far is similar in premise to a Sarah Dessen treasure, but the delivery is a bit different. Meg is a bit of a wild card: partying, minor law infractions, and casual sex. When she, her boyfriend and another couple get caught by the local police on the railroad bridge, they find themselves in jail. Officer John After is particularly irate at finding them there, especially since if they had stayed on the bridge for 10 more minutes, they would have been killed by an oncoming train the same way two kids were years ago. As punishment, John After devises a plan for Meg and the other couple (her sleazy boyfriend's father was able to muscle him out of any punishment) to serve time by riding along with either the police, the fire department, or the ambulance for one week followed by a written plan to stop teens from committing the same dangerous mischief they had gotten themselves into. Meg, of course, is the one who will be driving with Officer After.

Meg's parents, having had enough of her antics, decide not to interrupt their vacation because of her punishment. Instead, she is to spend 8 hours working in their diner, 8 hours with Officer After, and the remainder of the day exhausted. But her time with John After isn't nearly as bad as she thought it would be. It turns out, he isn't much older than Meg, and he even went to school with her before graduating and immediately joining the local police department in order to continue his obsession with the train bridge. During their time together, Meg and John find out there was a lot more to each other than the original impressions and judgments they made.

This is a fun, interesting story with fairly deep and developed characters. While it follows Dessen's formula, however, this book strays in the realm of "too much information." Dessen never gets too sexual in her books, but rather prefers to leave most of the goings on to the imagination, which makes her books perfect for a school setting. While this book is by no means graphic, there is more sex than I would be comfortable giving to many of my students as a book to read in class. It would be great for an independent book if the student was mature enough, but I wouldn't give it to a student younger than 10th grade. It is also very much a "girl" book, and I would imagine a boy to roll his eyes even at the cover! Despite its few shortcomings, though, this is a fun book with some great characters and situations.