3 Things I Loved about The Distance from A to Z by Natalie Blitt

The Distance from A to Z has so much of my particular brand of contemporary YA romantic catnip that reading it made me feel like this:

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Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better (strong and driven girl, kick ass friendships, sweet boy, FRENCH…) Natalie Blitt would hit me with something new (Best. Book. Restaraunts. Ever.) and I would swoon all over again.

Blurb:

Seventeen-year-old Abby has only one goal for her summer: to make sure she is fluent in French—well, that, and to get as far away from baseball and her Cubs-obsessed family as possible. A summer of culture and language, with no sports in sight.

That turns out to be impossible, though, because her French partner is the exact kind of boy she was hoping to avoid. Eight weeks. 120 hours of class. 80 hours of conversation practice with someone who seems to wear baseball caps and jerseys every day.

But Zeke in French is a different person than Zeke in English. And Abby can’t help but fall for him, hard. As Abby begins to suspect that Zeke is hiding something, she has to decide if bridging the gap between who she is and who he is is worth the risk.

Three Things I Loved:

1. The friendship between Abby and her roommate, Alice. They support each other and make sacrifices to be there for each other. And they do it quietly, without making a big deal, because that’s what friends do.
2. Pretty much everything about Zeke. Because he was a good friend who gave really big hugs when required. Because he went out of his way for people. Because he had chapped boy lips and because the things he said in French AND English were perfect. Parfait.
3. The restaurants and THE FOOD. I haven’t been so desperate to visit a fictional town since Star’s Hollow. Cool cafes, quirky diners, and the most delicious French toast you will ever read about. Seriously, if this place is based on a real town then I am making it my next trip. Plus, the time spent in each different place perfectly evoked the period of life when you have time to sit around drinking coffee (or eating hangover food) and talk about life, art, and boys with your friends for hours.

Get it at Amazon or Barnes & Noble