Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall

Wendy Mass lived in my town (I'm not sure if she still does) so when I was in middle school, she came to our school library once to sign books and answer questions about the writing process. I got a free copy of this book, read it, and wondered, "Is this what teenagers are like? Will I be this way when I'm a teenager? Getting drunk and making out with people and just generally being reckless?"

Nope. As it turns out, Tessa just makes really terrible decisions. And I turned out to be the type of teen who rolled her eyes at people like Tessa, and wondered how they can have so little regard for their lives. There's not much I remember about this book except that the main character was a TRAIN WRECK and it had some pretty ~risqué~ topics show more when I read it.

In essence, when old people say, "Kids these days," in a disapproving tone, they're talking about unlikeable dolts like Tessa. show less

I forgot this was written in verse when I first checked it out of the library-I just remembered that I had looked at it at B&N but not bought it for some reason. I'm pretty sure this is the first novel written in verse that I've read.

Now, onto the review: Tessa doesn't duck when the dodgeball comes flying at her head in gym class. Instead she thinks about how her thighs look in her gym shorts, Ashlee Simpson lyrics flit through her mind...but she doesn't duck.

She doesn't duck and she wakes up in the mall. Or what looks a lot like the mall where both of her parents work and where she's spent countless hours of her life. Just like A Christmas Carol, she's going to need a guide, of course: enter Nail Boy.

As the story progresses the stores show more in the 'mall' are used to teach Tessa lessons through different stories of her past. Each chapter title is a store name.

I'm going to be honest right now: I didn't particularly like this book. It wasn't that I exactly disliked it, I just didn't really like Tessa. I understand that she's supposed to be an imperfect character and that the little tales of each chapter are supposed to show her (and us) the wrong decisons she's made in life and why she's who she is, but I just didn't like her.
I thought she was ditzy and kind of stupid and the things she did growing up/through the book became more than 'learn from them' things. She was the kid that if you found out what she was doing not only would you not be friends with her, you'd want to tell on her because she didn't really have a good reason-she was just a bad, jerky kid.

(See, I didn't like her--she wasn't sympathetic for me.)

The choices of the 'events' in the book were interesting, though...like in 13 Reasons Why (but for very different reasons) it's shown how random, seemingly insignificant events can really impact things. There's also one particular thing that I thought fit in the book very well and was also the first time I've seen it in a book yet and I'm glad that it was used (because I believe it fit--but I'll keep it a secret, it's a real world event so if you read it, you'll know).

The other thing I couldn't stand: Nail Boy? Yeah, he had a drill bit in his head. A drill bit looks like a screw so if you want Tessa to not know it's a drill bit, then at least let her call it a screw--but not a nail because a nail is smooth, straight up and down. (And maybe she could have gotten that wrong, but because she could not have, screw would have been a compromise, right?)

So, for the book...it was well written, the stories worked out well and the whole mall as a sort of heaven idea is really interesting....but I just can't get past really not liking the main character.

Book Sp(l)ot
http://book-splot.blogspot.com/ show less

I have only read a few books that were completely in verse and I kept feeling like I was trying to read a Shakespeare play or something of that nature. This book was a really interesting book about a teen, named Tessa, who gets knocked out by another teen in dodgeball and readers don't know until the very last chapter of the book if she's actually dead. Throughout the novel Tessa travels through the mall that she grew up in as a "mall brat" (her parents work there), with another teen, Nail Boy, who acts as a sort of Christmas-Past character for her.

Kirkus Review:

Adequate but uninspiring free verse tells the first-person story of a girl whose life is summed up by a bag of stuff. Overweight, insecure, sneaky Tessa fails to duck when a show more dodgeball is fired at her and ends up in a coma. Her near-death experience, like much of her life, takes the shape of a visit to the mall where both her parents work. With guidance from a guy with a drill bit in his head (a misguided attempt to get high), Tessa revisits pivotal moments as epitomized by objects (a glass bowl representing a science experiment she cheated on; a stolen bra representing her first date). Through re-experiencing her memories and examining her own flaws and those of the people around her (her mother’s constant harping on appearance amounts to abuse), Tessa predictably learns to love herself. A quick read with a commercial angle and an excellent cover (each word in a font evoking a different store), this will please readers but will be easily forgotten—much like your average day at the mall. (Fiction. 13+)

I don't know that I agree completely with the Kirkus review - yes, I certainly felt confused by the author's choice to continually bring Tessa back to the hospital room and then take her to the celestial mall, but I don't think that this book is easily forgotten. I think it teaches teens to see their own true value and can help them with their self-esteem, especially if they have a mom like Tessa's who is constantly ridiculing her and telling her not to eat sweets or junk food because she will be "known as 'the fat kid' in school and get picked on." I can't imagine ever talking to my daughter that way, but I know that parents sometimes take out their own insecurities on their children, and as Tessa says in the end of the novel, of her mom: "because I know that by trying to fix me, she is really trying to fix herself." show less

Tessa narrates this novel in verse beginning with the day in gym class when she’s hit in the head during dodge ball and falls to the floor with a major head injury. She watches from above as other students run toward her, some screaming, while the teacher calls for the school nurse. She soars toward what she thinks will be heaven, but instead finds herself in the local mall where both her parents work. Waking briefly from a medically-induced coma in the hospital, she sees a boy who has been with her in the “heaven mall.” Each poem tells an episode in her life, most of which are not at all flattering to her character. As she looks at her life while she’s in the coma, Tessa realizes she has not always made good decisions, and the show more consequences often had negative effects on her friends and family.

The reader doesn’t know until the end whether Tessa will live or die, and where her spirit will go if she doesn’t survive. The verse format makes this book easy to read a bit at a time, since each verse is like a separate event, not always in chronological order/ I liked the story especially because the author gives no clues as to how the book will end. This book gives the reader a lot to think about. Even though the narrator is still in her teens, her situation has forced her to reexamine her life.

E. Goldstein-Erickson show less

Okay, I have a confession to make. I felt like I wasn't going to reach my goal of 100 books for the year, so I started reading some of the novels in verse I had been planning to read but hadn't gotten to. I'm almost there.
This book starts out with Tessa being hit by a dodgeball and winding up in a coma. Dodgeball is one tough game. : ) She winds up in what looks very much like her local mall, where both of her parents work. She begins going through her live, significant event by significant event. A boy is her guide part of the time. I love how this book is divided into the various stores that relate somehow to the events in her life.

It becomes apparent that Tessa has definitely not always done the right thing. And she rarely even show more feels remorse over it all. Her moral compass is off kilter. The boy prods her to figure out the question that must be answered while she's 'at the mall'. We tag along for the ride and some of it is funny and some of it is annoying but you're always pulling for Tessa. My favorite line is "Our lives are shaped by the future, not by the past." I thought it was profound. I thought the cover for this one was great. I would say age 13 and up would like this one. I'm giving it 4 heavenly kisses! show less

Heaven Looks a lot like the mall
When 16 year old Tessa gets hit in the head with a dodgeball in gym class she imagines herself in heaven. To Tessa heaven looks like the mall she visited many times in her life. She has gone there so much she practically lives there. When she was hit in the head she got a coma that took her back to the mall where she meets a boy who is her tour guide. He gives her a bag of things she has ever bought at the mall. Some things are really old and some things that are recently bought. While Tessa is in her coma she goes back to all those important moments in her life while she bought those things. These things that are in the bag are truly important in her life and they all have a story and a lesson. These show more things are from when she was a baby through all her life until the accident. The items start from a barbie doll when she was young to a light blue prom dress from when she was in high school. These moments she replays back to are important because it teaches Tessa a lesson because she doesn’t always make the right decision. When Tessa goes through the important moments in her life she learns all her mistakes. When she wakes up from her coma she wants to become a better person and she has learned from her past mistakes. After she got out of the hospital she went to go live a nice live and to be happy and thankful.

This book was a great story and I loved reading all the stories that Tessa went through. This story was funny at some times and the main character was a funny personality. The book was explained great and I felt as though I was there with Tessa. I liked how Wendy Mass left you hanging to see if Tessa was alright after the tour guide yanked on her oxygen tube and how she was imagining it. This book was well written. show less

Reviewed by Andie Z. for TeensReadToo.com

When 16-year-old Tessa sees the orange dodgeball flying at her from across her high school gym, it never even occurs to her to duck. Soon after, she finds herself floating towards heaven, which looks just like the mall where her parents work and where she has spent a good deal of her life.

She is led to the Lost and Found, where she is given a bag of items: items that she has taken home from the mall during her lifetime, and each item takes her on a journey to her past. She relives several memories, many of which she'd rather forget, and she realizes that it is up to her to sort through her life up until the moment the dodgeball hits her and finally answer the most important question of all.

I show more really enjoyed HEAVEN LOOKS A LOT LIKE THE MALL, and would definitely recommend it, especially to fans of stories like A CHRISTMAS CAROL. It is written in verse, but if that's not your thing, don't let it stop you! About a quarter of the way through the story I stopped noticing the verse because I was so engrossed in the story, and Wendy Mass does a wonderful job making the reader feel for Tessa, even if she's not always the most likeable person.

Whether you're looking for a fun summer read, an interesting verse novel, or a deeper story about life and death, you shouldn't miss HEAVEN LOOKS A LOT LIKE THE MALL. show less