Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen review by Shelby J.

Have you ever not known where your life is going? I’m sure all of us have at some point. In the book Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen the main character has to deal with her mom abandoning her, finding a new home, and restarting in a new school. I know that I can agree that everyone has issues every once in awhile that makes our lives flip upside down.
The main character, Amy who is seventeen is very shy, and sort of let’s people say and do what they want to her. She has trouble making new friends, and sticking up for what she thinks. Amy is what makes this story so interesting. She is a great character to narrate it because all the tragic events happen to her, so you can really visualize it from her point of view.
The setting of The Lock and Key is in a small town called Jacksonville, which is where that the main character Amy has to go and live in. Jacksonville is a big suburb town, were most people know each other and everything is pretty much set in stone. This is the place Amy goes and lives in after her mom leaves her behind to start a new life. Its hard to imagine having to leave your high school and start over new when your seventeen years old.
Cora, Jamie and Nate are the supporting characters that help the story come alive, and help shape Amy’s life. Cora is Amy’s older sister, who she hasn’t seen in years but after her mom leaves they are forced to reunite. Jamie is Cora’s husband who tries to keep everything going smoothly and make everyone happy. Last but not least, there’s Nate, who is Amy’s newfound love in her new town of Jacksonville.
I would think that the theme to this story would be that even the most heartbreaking things can turn out for the best. This would tie in with Amy’s story because she was so heartbroken when her mom left, but she decided that maybe it was good she didn’t have her bad influence anymore and this was a good chance to have a new start.
I can’t completely relate to this story, just because I’ve never had such deep problems with my family life, but there may be many people who have, and this book would be great for them to read. Even if you haven’t had family issues to relate to, this book would still be great to read. I would recommend it to any reader, it has a really interesting plot.