Reviewed by Tasha for TeensReadToo.com

Harper's life is falling apart. Her father and step-mother, whom she considers a mother, are getting a divorce, and her step-sister/best friend, Tess, won't talk to her. Then there's Gabriel. He's been Harper's best friend since they were twelve, but now he just uses her as his girl when he can't get anyone else.

Harper finally realizes that she needs to escape. When she finds out about Homes for the Heart Summer Program for Teens, she knows she's found her escape route. At the beginning of the summer she heads off to Bailey, Tennessee, where there was a major tornado that devastated almost the entire city. Here she will join a group of teens and help build a family a house.

Little does she know that she will not only rebuild one family's life, but may actually start rebuilding her own. She immediately starts making friends with the other volunteers and loves the aspect of helping other people. Then there's Teddy, the son of the family for whom the house is being built. Teddy chooses Harper. He shows her how to trust and love and turns her summer into an unforgettable moment.

First, I have to say this surpassed and exceeded every expectation I had of this book. Not only was it an amazing and heartfelt love story, but also an extremely real story of finding oneself. At the beginning of the story Harper is lost, struggling like many of today's teens with the divorce of her parents. She grows so much as a person that it inspires the reader to really look at their life and see if they can make themselves a better person, too. Harper's character is beautifully created and hard to forget. She is very honest and so real that she's hard not to love.

And then there is Teddy. Whew! He sounds like the ultimate boyfriend. There's everything to love about him and it drives me crazy that he's not real. I mean, who wouldn't want a guy who wants to make your life better and really wants to know everything about you?

Besides the characters, Dana Reinhardt's writing style was one-of-a-kind. I really enjoyed how the story kept flipping from Harper's current life in Tennessee and then back to what her home life was like. Overall, this was a stunning novel that I highly recommend. I completely loved it and will definitely read it over and over again! ( )

How to Build a House was a wonderful read. Harper's story is realistic and understandable and heart-breaking and inspiring, all at once. Since her father and step-mother's divorce, Harper is just lost. The gap between her and Tess, her former step-sister/best friend, keeps widening and she doesn't know why. She starts a casual sexual relationship with a friend, which ends up leaving her more hurt than before.

Harper's escape comes in the form of a volunteer program for teens, similar to Habitat for Humanity. She's going to spend her summer in Tennessee, building a home for a family that lost theirs in a tornado. While learning how to build a house, Harper learns how to rebuild her life. Between her new friends and Teddy, her new love interest who happens to be part of the family that will live in her house, Harper manages to heal herself and forgive the people in her life. ( )

Harper's dad and stepmom are in the midst of divorce. The problem is that Jane is the only mother she's ever known because her mom died when she was two. Reinhardt does a wonderful job of explaining today's blended families as Harper struggles with losing her sister Tess (who was actually her stepsister . . . and best friend) in the divorce. As summer approaches she knows that she needs to get away from all that has happened throughout the school year and signs up for a program called Homes from the Heart, which helps people rebuild after a natural disaster. Harper goes to Tennessee hoping to sort out all of her problems and confusing relationships over the twelve week separation. The distance is good for her and as the book progresses the reader watches as Harper helps reconstruct a house and make sense out of her life.

The novel is told in sections labeled "Here" (Tennessee) and "Home" (flashbacks to LA and the life she left behind). Harper left LA to avoid relationships and the complications that come with them, but alas, she finds herself wound up in a summer romance. How to Build a House has its sweet moments of young romance and the first taste of independence, but it also illustrates the agony of divorce, especially the feeling of guilt that Harper and Tess feel about loving one family and the fear that it makes them disloyal to the other.

I would recommend this to book to older teens that enjoy honest fiction about real issues. ( )

My favorite part of this book was how the author alternated between what had happened and what was currently happening. I do wish that there could have been an epilogue or more of a closing. ( )

Harper Evans' family is falling apart. Her parents are divorcing, and she is losing not only her beloved step mother, but also her stepsister and best friend. Seventeen-year-old Harper flees the scene of her emotional devastation and flies across the country to face the very physical destruction of another family's Tennessee home. As Harper spends her summer learning 'how to build a house,' she also learns a lot about herself in the process, and about what true love and family relationships are made of. Harper becomes involved with Teddy, the boy whose home is being rebuilt. In Teddy's family, Harper sees all that she longs for, and fears she has lost, in her own. As she spends the summer making new friends and developing talents she never knew she had, Harper gains confidence and a true sense of accomplishment. She returns home ready to put the same effort toward rebuilding her relationship with Tess. Reinhardt's characters and their situations are real - readers will relate to and appreciate them. ( )