In Search of Us is a beautiful and poignant story about family and love. Told in parallel, mother and daughter seek to discover who they are, what family means, and what they want to do with the rest of their lives. At times heart-breaking and at others joyful, this is an honest look at dreams and roots. This is a great book to read for teens and would be a perfect addition to any library.

Within the first few pages of this book, I knew it was going to be a keeper. And then a bit deeper in, I knew that it was going to break my heart.

The story opens with Angie at age 17. She’s thinking of her dad. All she has to hold on to are a few old pictures. No memories because he died before she was born. Or at least that’s what she’s been told by her mom, Marilyn. So Angie is off to find out the truth, whatever that may be.

Marilyn, 18 years earlier…also age 17. She and HER mom are at a crossroads of sorts. Marilyn’s going to be the next big thing in Hollywood, according to her mom. So what if they have to struggle for a bit? And at the moment, that struggle includes moving in with not-so-dear Uncle Woody. The only thing that saves Marilyn is their new neighbor, James. Neither of them is looking for a serious relationship, but what they want doesn’t really matter.

These two perspectives are fleshed out over the remainder of the story until they finally converge at the very end in a dramatic conclusion that you maybe saw coming but not exactly. Both are lost souls searching for something. Both find what they’re looking for in very different yet similar ways.

Ava Dellaira writes one heck of a story. She makes you care about the characters, and her words stay in your soul long after you turn the last pages of the book. Another outstanding tale!

I cannot believe how blown away I was by this book. Everything about it was exceptional.
Marilyn and Angie are each 17 years old and trying to figure out who they are. Marilyn is just biding her time until she can go to college. She and her mom are forced to move in with her uncle, and they are not well received. As they are moving in, she Marilyn meets James and it is almost love at first sight. But not every one agrees.
Angie has been told her whole life that her dad and uncle died in a car accident. But what if not is not the truth? Angie, along with her ex-boyfriend Sam, go on a journey to find out Angie's past.
What makes this book unlike any other is that Marilyn is Angie's mom...the stories are happening 17 years apart.
I am so excited to share this book with everyone!

This book is a story of a girl in search of her history. Dual narrator books are usually the girl and the guy. But I loved this one switching between a girl and her mother. Dellaira took me back to the 90s so powerfully through the soundtrack. I was a mess of tears the further I got in, and couldn’t put the book down until I finished around 1am. Today, my eyes are stinging and still swollen from it all. I loved Dellaira’s first book so much, I wasn’t sure how she could top it, but she took me on a different, equally intense roller coaster. I love her use of music and quotes from writers (Didion and Coates have been on my to read list for awhile now) to raise consciousness about race, language, and just humanity...anyway, I’m still thinking a lot about this book, and while I hate that every book turns into a movie, I could see this one being one (the music!)