Erin McCahan

Loved this book! It has a lot of humor, but that's the icing on the cake of the charming characters, fun summer beach setting, and changing relationships that fill up the story. Briggs is excited to begin his new summer job, just after high school graduation, as a personal assistant and handyman to an elderly widow living alone in a giant house on the beach in South Haven Michigan. He figures he'll save money for college and meet new friends to help him get over his breakup with his show more girlfriend. He has his life planned out--get a law degree and make lots of money, and never live in a "shoebox" like the years his family had to after his dad lost all of their money from investments gone wrong. He comes from a family of overachievers, and his relationships with his high expectations father and his stern no-hugging no-affection-of-any-kind grandmother Ruth give him stomach knots at times. But he's going to have a great time on the beach all summer; he's used to working with older people from his time volunteering at a nursing home, so he can handle this--but "Mrs. B." throws him for a loop the minute he meets her and she asks him to take her to her funeral! Between translating her hilarious English vocabulary gaffes and thick Serbian accent, trying to avoid embarrassing faux pas at various funerals, and figuring out what's up with the mysteriously intriguing quiet girl next door--who seems to be totally immune to his charms and also disappears for days on end--Briggs has quite a full summer. And that's not even mentioning the changes that will happen to Briggs and his family as the sunny days go by. Mrs. B is the quirkiest old lady I've read in a book in a long time, loved her character! And seeing how she and Abigail both affect Briggs' character was enjoyable to read. This is a great book for fans of summer romance and fans of books that are full of heart, a little drama, a little sadness and a lot of chuckles.

Up til now I've always thought of "the lake effect" as something that happens in winter: the wind off the Great Lakes causes huge snowfalls near the shore. But now I will forever think of the *summer* lake effect, as well! "Over and off," everyone! show less

I don't often read a lot of YA novels but every once in a while I find one so enticing that I have to read it. Either the premise is fantastic, my teenaged daughter has raved about it, or others who read similarly to me have said it's well worth the time. Erin McCahan's new novel, Love and Other Foreign Words, is one of those appealing, can't miss YA books and I am feeling a little smug that I found it before my daughter so I have one to recommend to her instead of the other way around. show more

Josie is fifteen going on sixteen and she is completely brilliant. A certifiable genius, she's in high school and college simultaneously. She likes precision and verifiable facts. As easy and interesting as she finds school work, she is still baffled by the intangibles of life. She navigates her own life as different countries each with different languages, which she speaks with varying degrees of success. The one language she doesn't understand at all is Love. And when her adored older sister Kate gets engaged to the odious Geoff, she realizes just how little of love she understands. So Josie sets out on a quest to show Kate why Geoff is all wrong for her and to get the wedding called off. As she delves deeper into Kate's love life, Josie might learn a little bit about love herself too.

Josie is sweet and hilarious, smart but sometimes clueless, and her family is fantastic. Their banter and love for each other shines through the pages. As Josie explores relationships and crushes and all their attendant humiliations and giant-sized emotions, she is completely endearing. As Josie is the narrator, the reader identifies with her and her perspective, even while knowing that no matter how smart she is, she's still a teenager with not very much life experience behind her. Each of the other characters is seen through her eyes and colored by her feelings about them. They aren't all enormously developed but each serves their purpose in the novel well and their interactions with Josie help her to grow and mature as the novel moves onward. She is very analytical, examining things, studying them as she would study a course. The way that she perceives the language around her is fascinating as she picks up on hidden contexts and unspoken meanings, coming at "different" language as an outsider rather than a native. A unique perspective on coming of age, this is a quick, charming, and cute read and Josie is that rare teenager with whom you wish you could actually spend more time rather than less, a genuine delight. show less

I loved Josie, her quirks, her mix of intelligence and immaturity, she overflowed with personality, I could probably read dozens of books starring her and never tire of hearing her thoughts.

I was less enamored with Josie’s love life, or at least I was less enamored with who she crushed on and who she ended up with in the end, however, I did find her initial foray into romance enjoyably sweet and awkward.

Josie’s sister Kate is easily the most challenging character in the book. Kate’s show more basically in bridezilla mode which leads her to say cruel things about Josie’s appearance, she also violates Josie’s privacy and threatens her with blackmail. Admittedly Josie is no picnic either, but she’s a vulnerable teen and Kate is supposedly the adult in the situation so I definitely heap more blame on her. Kate made me glad I don’t have a sister (hopefully sisterhood isn’t anything like that in real life).

I thought this could have used a few more moments where Kate and Josie were harmonious just to more firmly establish why Josie wouldn’t be gleeful at the thought of Geoff taking her unpleasant sister off her hands. I also wouldn’t have minded seeing the parents once in a while respond with something other than a quip.

The couple truly sincere moments in this book did deliver nicely, that just isn’t really the tone this was going for much of the time and for the most part I was more than okay with this leaning heavily into humor. So often attempts at comedy in books either fall flat for me or feel somewhat forced and either way don’t really elicit a smile from me let alone an actual laugh. This one is genuinely funny, and even though this is young adult, the type of humor reminded me a bit of the style found in a good episode of Frasier, quick-wit occasionally bordering on farcical and always, always smart. show less

Not what I expected at all. So much more than I expected. Yeah!

I went into this book thinking I would be getting a romance. Nope. This is more like realistic fiction. Josie is gifted, straddling two worlds: high school and college, fitting into neither of them well, and like many gifted kids, she overthinks things. Her sister is getting married to Geoff, who makes a poor first impression on Josie. Josie then decides he is not right for her sister, and she proceeds to try to prove it to show more everyone, at the risk of alienating her whole family and favorite sister. In her zeal, she manages to discover the difference between crushes and love, what role family plays in our lives, and see an old friend in a new way. show less