Love in English

Sixteen-year-old Ana is a poet and a lover of language. Except since she moved to New Jersey from Argentina, she can barely find the words to express how she feels. 

At first, Ana just wants to return home. Then she meets Harrison, a very cute, very American boy in her math class, and discovers the universal language of racing hearts. But when she begins to spend time with Neo, the Greek Cypriot boy from ESL, Ana wonders how figuring out what her heart wants can be even more confusing than the grammar they’re both trying to master. After all, the rules of English may be confounding, but there are no rules when it comes to love. 

Told from Ana’s perspective, Love in English shows Ana’s struggle with understanding both the English language and American culture. To convey Ana’s language difficulties, Ana’s family’s conversations are peppered with Spanish words. In addition, when others speak to Ana in English, she misses many of the words which are written as “####### ########.” Ana also struggles with words, such as “close,” that have two meanings and are pronounced differently. Throw in American idioms like “a bird in hand is worth two in the bush” and “a stich in time saves nine” and readers begin to understand and empathize with how hard it is to learn English.  

It’s not just English that Ana struggles to understand. Ana meets Harrison and Neo at school. When Ana meets Harrison, she thinks, “There’s so much I wish I could ask him about. . . but I can’t catch any of the words needed to form those questions. They swim in my brain, some visible, some shapeless, but none want to coalesce into sentences. It’s so frustrating. It’s like someone stole all my words.” Ana struggles to understand the language of love, which often leads to misunderstandings.  

Much of the plot revolves around Ana’s inner dialogue, which makes Ana feel like a new friend that you want to sit down and share coffee and a secret with. Ana is extremely likable and deals with many of the same struggles as today’s teens. However, readers who love action-packed stories full of adventure will find Love in English difficult to read. For those who love looking into a character’s heart and soul, Love in English is the perfect book. Many readers will relate to Ana, who is trying to find a place where she belongs in life and in America. Through it all, Ana learns that “The most important words are the ones we’re brave enough to share.” 

Sexual Content  

• While leaving the classroom, Ana bumps into Harrison. She thinks, “For a second, I want to grab his hand and hold it. Or pull him toward me, and we will have our first kiss here in our math classroom.”  
• One of Ana’s new friends, Altagracia says, “You like boys? Girls? Both? I like girls myself.” Later, Altagracia tells Ana that “she went on a date with another girl and they kiss[ed].” 
• In the cafeteria, a girl says she can’t keep lipstick on for more than twenty minutes. Her friend replies, “You should probably stop kissing so many people then.” 
• Ana goes to a night club to watch Harrison’s band play. Ana sees Harrison dancing with Jessica, a girl from school. Jessica “pushes onto the tiptoes of her high-tops. The lean in is slow, so slow. . . Her lips land on his. He stands there. . . She gets off her tippy toes and runs her thumb gently over his lips.”  
• After seeing Jessica kiss Harrison, Ana leaves but has no way to get home so she calls Neo. Instead of going home, Ana goes to Neo’s house and they watch a movie. Ana looks “up at Neo. He’s so close, a few inches away. He looks at me steadily. . . His lips look perfect, the dimple in his chin a little shadowed where he missed a spot shaving. . . “ Ana’s phone rings and she’s left to wonder if she wanted Neo to kiss her. 
• Ana goes to Harrison’s house and he asks Ana permission to kiss her. Ana is “looking at Harrison, and I know I want to kiss him. Instead of words, I use my lips. His lips are soft, and wonderful, but he doesn’t move them. I am self-conscious. Am I supposed to do something more? I kiss him again. He kisses too, then pulls away.” 
• Neo takes Ana to a poetry slam and then the Empire State Building. While at the top, he “leans in. When his lips touch mine, the moment shivers through me, his lips, warm and perfect, part mine. His hand is on the small of my back, and he pulls me in, and I can’t breathe.” The kiss is described over a paragraph. 

Violence  

• Several times, a boy from school makes snarky remarks about Neo being an immigrant. One day, Ana gets to school and sees Neo and the boy fighting. “One has the other in a headlock. . . It’s Neo in the headlock, swinging his arms, connecting with a thud on the other boy’s lower back. He pulls Neo tighter.” Neo has blood on his face when teachers break up the fight. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

• While at a night club Ana sees some girls from school and one of the girls is “flirty drunk.” 

Language  

• Ana overhears profanity in the hallways at school. Ana writes in her journal, “Fuckface. A face that likes to do sex? Doosh noze? Shit biscuit? Duck butter? Bananas. Like ‘crazy’?” 
• Profanity is used rarely. Profanity includes damn, fuck, and shit. 
• Oh my God is used as an exclamation.  

Supernatural 

• None 

Spiritual Content  

• None