Upward mobility. Not a concept that you expect to be discussed in a young adult novel, but such is the case with Stacia Tolman's debut book The Spaces Between Us. This novel tells the story of two best friends from different socio-economic backgrounds living in a dying rural town, and examines how much the hand they were dealt in life affects their future.

Serena Velasco should be doing better in high school than she is. Her mother is principal of her high school, she is intelligent enough for college, but she just isn't applying herself despite the privileges she has been granted. Her best friend Melody Grimshaw is also flunking out, but such is to be expected when you come from a family like hers. Considered the "trash" of the town, Melody never had a bright future ahead of her.

Following the friends through their senior year of high school as they try out for the cheerleading squad, date inappropriate guys, work on school projects, and figure out their futures, The Spaces Between Us is a thought-provoking and provocative social study. That said, I didn't like this book. The story line is grim, and the characters are unlikeable and disconnected from the reader. Furthermore, the writing in The Spaces Between Us is choppy and vague.

While there are certainly girls like Serena and Melody in the world, and while stories like theirs definitely need to be told, The Spaces Between Us just does not do a good job of it. Teens will have trouble making sense of this muddled story and will find little hope or solace for the future if they are living in a similar situation to any of the characters.

I loved the idea of this book, but it wasn't working for me. I set it aside at 40%, because I found the story to be a downer, and I just wasn't in the right headspace for something that was depressing me. Although I thought Serena's narration was witty and interesting, at times, I still couldn't connect with her or embrace her story. I saw someone call this A Catcher in the Rye for the 21st century, and maybe that's my problem, because I abhorred that book.

I never got to read this one. Maybe some day but I just never got to it. Sorry for requesting it. Sometimes life just gets in the way of being able to read all the books you think look interesting. I will never be able to finish my to read list.

My reaction to this book was pretty "meh." I liked it at first, but it got kind of tedious, and I found the whole road-trip-home scenario kind of unbelievable. Serena's naivete about her own social class in relation to Melody was frustrating, and (spoiler) Melody's tragic fate seemed like a plot device for Serena's own personal awakening.

I'm not sure how I felt about this book. The writing style was little choppy and there were moments where there would be build up and then a rushed resolution and other moments where the story seemed to drag.

Serena and her best friend Grimshaw are just trying to make it through high school and out of their poor, rundown town. There is no future for either of them there. They both come from less than perfect family situations. Both have fathers who died when they were young. Serena is little more well off. Her mom is the principal and she has a step-dad and siblings. Grimshaw's family is considered the "trash" of the town.

Both girls feel stuck. Grimshaw the most. She aspires to be a dancer, and she uses her beauty to use guys to her advantage. When she starts dating an older guy named Mike, Serena can tell only bad things are coming. As Grimshaw decides to leave town with Mike and start her career, Serena tries to do everything in the power to save her friend.

There is no easy way to explain The Spaces Between Us. A lot happens in this story. It encompasses about a year in the life of Serena starting with her failing a class at the end of her junior year, going to Maine for the summer, and then coming home to find Grimshaw has made new friends. This is only maybe the first few chapters. From there the story jumps around, at times with no warning. There are several times when we are in one scene and the next line will suddenly take place weeks later.

Serena is definitely a different kind of YA narrator. She is whip-smart and mature. She deserves more than what she is dealt and that includes a friend like Grimshaw. We see Serena do literally everything to help Grimshaw, but we never get a sense of Grimshaw being worthy of Serena's loyalty. She isn't a good friend to Serena and is often times trying to ditch her. I liked Serena a lot and her story is interesting with a realistic setting. But there are a lot of parts of the story that didn't fit together or left more questions than answers to what is going on.

I still appreciate the originality of the story and the setting.

**I received an e-ARC from Netgalley**

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the E-Arc copy of this novel.

3.5 stars. Serena's time in Maine seemed rushed and and glossed over, especially since we end up seeing her Uncle again. I found it pretty strange that 2 such close friends also didn't talk at all over the summer. I hoped for more of an explanation as to why Serena completely changed her attitude towards school once she returns. The middle felt a little slow and a lot of it seemed unnecessary, aka the cheer-leading fiasco, but I enjoyed reading about her upward mobility project and liked Mr. C.

Overall, I like the writing style and the author nailed the small town-ness.

Thanks Net Galley for the preview!

I hate to say I didn’t enjoy this book but I never felt connected to the characters and considered putting it down. I liked some of the general themes of economic status and growing up and family dynamics. Overall the plot was hard to follow and I didn’t 100% get where the book was going until close to the end. I think this wasn’t my kind of book.

This book just didn’t do it for me. I’m not sure why, but I couldn’t keep the characters straight- especially all the teachers and random friends. For some reason, I kept thinking the story would focus from the “poor girl,” Mel’s, point of view. It was actually kind of refreshing, though, that it wasn’t. It was different to come at high school from the view of the more well-to-do girl and her own identity struggles. Instead of rooting for the underdog (though I did definitely root for Mel), I liked that someone who had things handed to her and who’s mom ran the school was still struggling. But, sadly, I didn’t like either of them enough to really like the book. And I didn’t really like the writing. The book seemed choppy- dramatic at points then incredibly boring. Big build-ups with quick conclusions. Philosophy and imagery galore, but the locations and timeframe were hard to figure out - not necessarily a bad thing, but a bit irritating. I didn’t know if it was modern or the 80’s... I tried to decider the cars being driven, etc, but it wasn’t till the mention of cellphones that I knew it was “modern” which actually kind of turned me off.
I’m sure lots of people would like this book. An interesting high school coming-of-age with A LOT going on. I’d recommend it to others, but it wasn’t really for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the E-Arc copy of this novel.
I was a little thrown off by this one at first. The story is told from Serena's point of view only, but it is about both young ladies trying in different ways to beat their home life situations. I think from being a parent and librarian myself it is written in a more mature tone. I do like the subject matter it deals with coming from a small town myself in much the same situation that these girls find themselves. I highly recommend this book! It is very realistic and sadly more common than most realize.

Once I found myself halfway through the book I started to question the grave yard on the cover of the novel, but in the end I had my answer. Wow, what a good read! Adults as well as younger versions - crossover read - can connect with the conflict of questioning if a person's made the right choice. We have those people we'd love to save, but really all of us need to save ourselves. From deep conversations with cross-country truckers to the rituals of American high school, this story moves beyond the typical cheerleader drama to hit the metaphors hard and provide a compelling story of America in the now. Can we move beyond our family and our hometown? Are we the people our families want us to be? Such deep questions; meaningful answers provided.

The Spaces Between Us is the story of two teenage girls trying to get out of their small town. Both girls attempt to stand out and make a name for themselves in different ways. Serena by purposefully failing classes and Melody by trying to chase her dreams of being a dancer. Melody's dream leads her to make some not so good choices that lead her to California and Serena goes out to find her. Some of the content is a bit mature I feel for a YA audience. While the story is about their friendship, it tends to focus more on Serena and her thoughts about Melody. Perhaps because the story was only from Serena's point of view that the friendship felt flat. There really didn't seem to be a strong connection between the two girls. Overall, a decent book. Good storyline, a typical let's-get-out-of-this-small-town story.

I haven't read a YA book like this. Most of the stereotypical secondary characters have surprising moments that adds to the depth of the story. The book starts out pretty depressing with a William Faulkner style of bleakness and despair. The plot is well-developed and intriguing. The content however would keep me from adding it to my high school library's shelves. The stripper descriptions/lifestyle and the events in LA are more appropriate for new adult or adult versus YA (fourteen-year-olds+). The independent study assignment for the class isn't quite believable, but can be over-looked.