2012-27 - i can't tell you, by Hillary Frank

27 - i can't tell you, by Hillary Frank, 196 pages, Houghton Mifflin Books, 2004

WHY I PICKED IT: Saw it at a discounted book store for $1
ELAPSED TIME: 2 days
RATING: Good

 

Jake gets into a fight with his best friend and says things he shouldn't have... and concludes that talking = trouble, so he'll only communicate by writing.  The book is a collection of conversations written down on notepads, scraps of paper, and whiteboards - some of them are both sided (as his friends' agree to participate for the sake of conversation flow), others only one-sided (as the other party spoke back to him).

 

Xandra lives on Jake's floor and flirts with him constantly... but both of them are too afraid to make a move.

 

This is the story of  Jake's experience over the following months.  High literature?  No.  Light hearted entertaining read?  Yes.