Sara Tyler is a sophisticated, sassy senior known for her intelligence and dedication to getting into the best college possible. Watching her from afar is Tobey Beller, a consummate slacker student who spends his time plucking guitar strings instead of doing schoolwork. Tobey’s had his eye on Sara for a while and has decided that the start of their senior year is going to mean big changes in his world: namely, he’s going after the girl. But cue the big, dopey but smokin’ hot competition for Sara’s affection: Dave, a jock with one thing (and you know the thing!) on his mind.

When It Happens is Sara and Tobey’s sweet love story, looking at the ways in which they continually seem to miss opportunities to be together — or simply dodge them, afraid of their feelings. What I loved about the book was how realistically relationships were portrayed (complete with realistic dialogue), and the fact that Colasanti doesn’t just gloss over the difficult stuff or make the novel dissolve into a cheesetastic after-school special. Real problems and questions teens face are addressed, but they’re done so in a thoughtful way — and the novel never seemed to fall into the trappings of an author talking down to teens about why they should wait. I appreciated, too, that Colasanti recognized the importance of first love — and that it wasn’t reduced to something silly, or something to be mocked. It was obvious she believed what she was saying, so I believed it, too!

A few gripes with the book? Characters other than Tobey and Sara were so on the periphery, I can’t even recall their names right now. They weren’t fleshed out or dimensional and seemed like mere stand-ins for “real” friends, people Colasanti needed to provide comic relief or fill the role in the background — like Tobey’s best friend, a guy with terrible dating advice, for example. Sara and Tobey — and even Dave — felt authentic, and like people I could actually know, but no one else did.

And where the heck were these kids’ parents? Sara mentions that her mom had her as a teen and is, like, on boyfriend No. 76 (stereotypical, but I’ll let it slide), and Tobey’s parents don’t seem to mind that their son has a half-dressed young woman in his bedroom (um, seriously?). We never know much about them or even see them in the story; they’re always “working late” or just . . . out. That seemed a little too easy for me.

But overall? A sweet, fast read that I’m sure would be enjoyed by high school students — and their older counterparts. Just a little parental warning? Issues of intimacy do come up quite a bit in the book, though they’re always done tastefully, but if you’re squeamish about that sort of thing or would just rather the kiddos stay clear of the topic, I’d hold off on this one for a few years. ( )

Reviewed by Jocelyn Pearce for TeensReadToo.com

When her senior year starts, Sara's attention is focused on college and on Dave. Dave is a new student and a popular athlete, and Sara thinks he may just be a candidate for the "something real" she wants to find. Tobey, however, is focused on his music and on Sara. He wants Sara to fall in love with him (as he is in love with her, despite the fact that the two are not close), but unfortunately he's got Dave as competition.

Despite Sara's attraction to Dave, Tobey and Sara are obviously meant to be together. They're almost unrealistically compatible, having even the little things--such as how they eat their onion rings--in common. Even more importantly, they both want the same thing. They're both searching for "the one," a soulmate, what Sara calls "something real"--could they find it in each other? Even if they do, there are still some obstacles. Tobey and Sara want different things from their futures, but can they overcome that?

WHEN IT HAPPENS is a wonderful story told in the fresh voices of Tobey and Sara. It's a romance, certainly, but there's more to it than that. Tobey and Sara are fantastic, likeable, and believable characters, with lives outside of each other, which adds an extra dimension to what would otherwise just be one of a million cheesy romance novels, but is instead a wonderfully written and almost too-good-to-be-true story of two teenagers looking for love. ( )

Tobey likes Sara. Sara likes Dave. Sara is smart but shy, unsure of herself, and she's really really hoping Dave will be all that she imagines for her ideal boyfriend. Tobey is a slacker, into his music to the point that college is irrelevant. He's just not Sara's type. Both Tobey and Sara have a couple friends that serve as background characters and help propel the story forward. Tobey's narration will make the reader root for him in his quest to get the girl, and readers will hope Sara gets caught. ( )

This is about a girl named Sarah who is going into her senior year in high school. Her goals are to get into a good university and to find true love. This is an easy to read book because it relate to the same issues that a student in high school is facing.

If you like a love story, then you will enjoy this book very much. This is about a girl, just trying to find that one special guy that makes her feel good about herself. She is, at the time, going out with this guy, but it just doesn’t seem right. Then she finds out that this wicked cute guy likes her, and it is all up hill from there.