Falling in Love with English Boys

November 15, 2010
A 16-year-old Catherine from the 21st century—who's funny, irreverent, and prone to making bulleted lists—and an 18-year-old Katherine who lived in the 19th century both keep diaries (Cather­ine's is a blog) about their lives, romances, and families in London. Driving the story is the modern-day Catherine, whose academic "(s)mother" carts her off to England for the summer, forcing her to leave behind all her friends in Philadelphia. While there, she reads the 19th-century Katherine's diary, courtesy of Mom, and begins to appreciate her own life more. Jensen, making her YA debut, alternates between the girls' parallel experiences, yet the diary format makes for an uneven narrative. At times, Catherine's prose moves quickly and the dialogue is crisp and funny, while at others, her blog entries feel thrown together. Katherine's diary reads as quite proper when juxtaposed with Catherine's contemporary sense of humor, but it's clear that she can be every bit as acid as her modern counterpart. Romance blossoms for both, with varying outcomes, but the best part of this story is Catherine's opinionated take on London. Ages 12–up.