Title: From Willa, With Love
Author: Coleen Murtagh Paratore [website]
Genre: Contemporary
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Format: Paperback
Source: Provided by publisher
Parental Advisory: none
Teachable Moments: philanthropy, literacy, faith, diversity, fidelity

“As I walk I think to myself, I want to be Willa the Warrior, not Willa the Worrier.  I want to keep finding ways to make a difference in the world, do good things…pay my “community rent” as my stepfather, Sam, calls it.”

Summary (from the publisher):
It’s a surprising, sparkling summer for Willa!

It’s August on Cape Cod and Willa has a lot to look forward to.  Soon, JFK will return home from baseball camp, and Willa has an idea for an exciting new project that will challenge her to dream big!  But life throws Willa some unexpected twists and turns: Ruby has bad news, a beloved friend leaves, a dear friend returns, her brother Will has something he doesn’t want to talk about, and of course, there’s a wedding to plan!  There’s also a cute boy who likes Willa….a lot, and Willa thinks she might like him too.  It’s a summer full of romance and surprises!

Opinion:
From Willa With Love is the perfect summer beach read for the middle-grade set.   Equal parts fluffy romance and moral dilemma the reader experiences the life of Willa Havisham as she works her way through a summer on Cape Cod.

As an adult reader, I admit I struggled with this book.  It came across as a story comprised of lists, product placements and name drops.  The descriptiveness of every single tourist location on the Cape and long lists of names of books and authors was excessive and at many points overbearing. I got the point the author was trying to make (reading is a worthy endeavor, hanging out on the Cape is cool if you go to these hot spots) in spades.  However, with so much emphasis on this type of description the story lacked the smoother transitions between prose and dialogue that I need.  The choppy nature made it difficult for me to get into the story and then stay with it through the end.  I felt no real investment as I kept wading through the description to try to get to the meat of it all then remain connected.

Knowing this to be true, I was then brought to a bigger issue.  There was so much going on in the story!  This was a short book at just about two-hundred pages, approximately one third of that was descriptive of surroundings, events, people or products.  The remaining two-thirds included plot lines related to a long lost brother dealing with having to go home to an family that doesn’t love him, the search for a long dead father, a love triangle, two major medical crises, a wedding, and reconnecting with long ago friends.  This much to work with naturally means that not a whole lot was explored in depth.  Personally, I would have preferred to have had two out of the list handled more deeply than all of the different twists and turns of having as much to follow as there was.

The greatest strengths of this book were it’s philanthropic tendencies and the message that it’s cool to be literate.  Willa makes a strong role model — she’s generous with her time, her money and her possessions.  Always willing to help she works for her mother as well as her grandmother and takes on a variety of other roles in the community.  This is all done in an effort to remain well-rounded and give back to those that she feels may need love and care.  More times than not she puts others before herself but in doing so it seems she is always the person who benefits most.  For this reason alone I would encourage young girls to scoop up the Willa books (including this one) and read them as quickly as possible.

There are some romantic tendencies but I wouldn’t say that it’s something that was all that in depth.  Again, for the middle grade reader it’s perfect as it shows Willa analyzing her current and potential relationships as well as listening to her heart.  I won’t speak to which of the two boys she chooses but I will say she does so with honesty and thoughtfulness.  Probably more so than the typical teen would undertake.

Though not an adult YA reader’s best choice I would say that From Willa, With Love would be a good choice for teachers hoping to show the benefits of philanthropy and literacy.  Also, if a parent is looking to teach their child about the intricacies of extended families melding together, the art of acceptance and the finesse of relationship building Willa is a good bet there as well.