海角大神

I鈥檓 a sucker for an amazing premise and To All The Boys I鈥檝e Loved Before had me from the聽jacket copy: Girl writes letters to boys she used to love. Someone mails the letters. Girl must聽deal with the fallout.

Right??

The best part is, author Jenny Han delivers over and above. The letters are just Act I. What聽follows is one charming teen love story set within another, interlaced with a sister love story all聽its own. It鈥檚 comic, original, and 鈥渁dorkable,鈥� and I love it from stem to stern.

Our heroine is the sweetly quirky Lara Jean Covey, middle child of three sisters. She鈥檚 a聽winning combination of retro, modern, dreamy, and goofy 鈥� the kind of girl who listens to The聽Shirelles, quotes "Sleepless in Seattle," and wears vintage floral sunsuits. Lara Jean keeps a聽hatbox of sentimental stuff, most notably that collection of letters written to former loves.

The other main players are her older sister, Margot, and Josh, the archetypal Boy Next聽Door. Margot is sensible, controlled, and selfless, much like Elinor Dashwood in "Sense and聽Sensibility." When their mom passed on years ago, Margot stepped into her shoes, looking after聽their distracted dad and shepherding Lara Jean and their younger sister, Kitty. She keeps the聽schedule, plans meals, and drives everyone around.

Josh is the Laurie to their March girls. He鈥檚 a darling character: reliable, funny, smart, and聽handsome in that disarming, dimpled, Josh Hutcherson way. The whole family adores him. He聽and Margot have been dating for a while, and unbeknownst to all, Lara Jean was in love with聽him for years.

We enter as Margot is preparing to leave for college in Scotland. (Fun fact: she鈥檒l attend the聽University of St Andrews, alma mater of Prince William and Kate Middleton!) Two major shocks聽occur: Margot breaks up with Josh before she leaves, and Lara Jean鈥檚 old letters get mailed 鈥� including one to popular, cocky Peter Kavinsky and, worse, one to Josh. Our dear heroine who聽hates change must a) take over Margot鈥檚 command of the house, b) negotiate the new dynamic聽of two sisters instead of three, and c) convince Josh that she鈥檚 not in love with him anymore.

She tries to throw Josh off the scent by striking up a fake relationship with Peter, who is full of聽himself yet totally lovable. Their agreement starts out like Woodrow Wilson鈥檚 鈥淔ourteen Points,鈥澛燽ut over time it turns into real friendship (and maybe more).

Meanwhile, Lara Jean worries that she won鈥檛 live up to Perfect Margot鈥檚 example. When driving聽Kitty around, she鈥檚 a knot of anxiety. 鈥淚 want to feel like the big sister,鈥� she thinks nervously. 鈥淚聽want her to relax in the passenger seat, safe in the knowledge that Lara Jean will get her where聽she needs to go, just like I did with Margot.鈥�

She learns over time that she doesn鈥檛 have to be exactly like Margot 鈥� and that鈥檚 okay. If she聽was, it wouldn鈥檛 be fair, fun, or freeing. Lara Jean grows into responsibility, learns after a few聽stumbles, and finds her footing as a more competent and confident version of herself.

On the flip side, Margot must come to terms with the fact that her family can carry on without聽her running the show. The calls home are awkward: Everyone else is happy, sharing new inside聽jokes, while she sits alone in her dorm room, unable to share her new life with them.

Oh, this book. I laughed, I gasped, I found a new favorite author. (I also couldn鈥檛 get this Johnny Carson parody out of my head, but聽that鈥檚 fine.) This was my first Jenny Han book, and she blew the roof off for pure writing talent.聽Han鈥檚 characters are extraordinary: realistically flawed, endearing, and rich with the聽juxtaposition of know-it-all-ness and na茂vet茅 that defines teenage-hood.聽

Take this intro description of Peter:聽鈥淗e has the look of a Handsome Boy from a different time. He could be a dashing World War I聽soldier, handsome enough for a girl to wait years for him to come back from war, so handsome聽she could wait forever. He could be wearing a red letterman鈥檚 jacket, driving around in a聽Corvette with the top down, one arm on the steering wheel, on his way to pick up his girl for the聽sock hop. Peter鈥檚 kind of wholesome good looks feel more like yesterday than today.鈥�

I聽read that passage and know exactly who Peter is and what he looks like. We never learn his聽hair color or eye color or height, but it doesn鈥檛 matter because Han has already captured his聽likeness 鈥� and given us a rich framework for Lara Jean鈥檚 thought process.

Han also handles sister relationships better than any other YA author I鈥檝e ever read. That聽places her squarely in my top echelon of YA writers 鈥� with, if not above, the likes of Sarah聽Dessen, Meg Cabot, and Dodie Smith.

Sister relationships are complex, to say the least. Sisters love each other ferociously and will聽always go to bat for each other, yet they compete, compare, and clash more intensely with each other than with聽anyone else. They know each other鈥檚 sore spots and deepest desires, and their shared history聽means that they don鈥檛 have to say anything to say everything.

I speak from experience, as I have two older sisters. When my oldest sister Emily went to聽college, second sister Amy and I had to reassess our hierarchy, just like Lara Jean and Kitty.聽Suddenly there were different responsibilities and dynamics, and we grew closer to each other.聽

Then when Amy and Emily were at college with each other and I was still in high school, our聽relationships evolved again. Han nails the shifting feel of that time period.

There were too many wonderful details to list, from Kitty鈥檚 relentless requests for a puppy to the聽artful incorporation of the girls鈥� Korean heritage. "To All The Boys I鈥檝e Loved Before" is worth its聽weight in gold 鈥� simply spectacular. Required reading for sisters everywhere!

Katie Ward Beim-Esche is the Monitor young adult fiction critic.