Starred Review Skylar's postgraduation plans are pretty much set in stone: trading in a life in the trailer she shares with her mom in Creek View, where she has spent all of her 18 years, to study art in San Francisco. But when her old coworker Josh, a U.S. Marine, returns from Afghanistan minus not only his leg but also his party-boy ways, Skylar's crystal clear view of the future starts to blur. Over the summer, Skylar grows unexpectedly closer to Josh. She thinks she might even love him, and when her mother loses her job, her future only gets more complicated. Can she really leave behind this place and the people who need her? Demetrios explores a complicated web of issues surrounding her intelligent protagonist in a summer full of changes, and she breathes life into fictional Creek View by populating the novel with eccentric yet familiar characters, from Skylar's closest friends to her boss Marge to Josh's unrelenting flirt of a brother. Demetrios smartly interweaves brief splices of narrative from Josh's point of view, providing a necessary counterpoint that effectively buoys the romance and expands the reader's understanding of Josh's experience in Afghanistan. Part coming-of-age, part romance, and part war story, Demetrios' latest is remarkable.

Gr 9 Up-Skylar has planned her escape from Creek View for as long as she can remember. She wants to go to an art college in San Francisco. The teen hopes that nothing will stop her, but when her unstable mother loses her job at Taco Bell, Skylar sees her plans get more distant. Another hurdle to her departure is a growing attraction to a young man she works with at a local motel who has returned to town after losing a leg as a Marine in Afghanistan. Both are searching for their future and are wondering if there is a way to leave their lives but not each other. Sky evades her problems through her paper collage projects, and Josh through whiskey and random hookups. The relationship gives each of them some stability, but goes through more than one rough patch. Teens who know someone who has returned from the service disabled, or who long to escape a small town may identify with the novel, but most may find it clich&3;d and reminiscent of many Lifetime movies; this one with young adults as the protagonists. The characters are likable but somewhat stereotyped and one-dimensional. The alcohol use and Armed Services-level swearing make this more appropriate for high school. Add to collections where teen romances are popular. Suanne B. Roush, formerly at Osceola High School, Seminole, FL

Skylar Evans has only ever wanted to escape. If she stays in her small town of Creek View, she risks getting stuck in the patterns of poverty and alcohol that pervade her life. When her unstable mother loses her job, Skylar's plan to attend art school in San Francisco starts to fall apart. Josh Mitchell, former party boy and current veteran of the war in Afghanistan, is returning to Cross Creek, minus one leg and almost all of the pieces that made him feel like the Josh who left. Grief, wartime memories, feelings of guilt, and probable PTSD keep Josh firmly held down in feelings of hopelessness. When Skylar decides to take Josh under her wing, what develops is a friendship that is honest and resilient enough to support both trust and eventual love.Demetrios has a gift for writing honestly about the raw and the heartbreakingly real. Josh and Skylar manage to be relatable as characters but are written in a manner that does not shy away from their very real flaws. Skylar, Josh, and Creek View are messy, and at times mistakes are made, but this honesty is what makes I'll Meet You There a gem at the heart of young adult realistic fiction. Nothing is sugar coated, and patient readers will be rewarded with this slow-burn, character-driven novel.Allison Hunter Hill.