BACK WHEN YOU WERE EASIER TO LOVE

Joy’s world revolves around Zan, who is gone and whom she can’t let go. Having moved to a small, utterly Mormon Utah town from Southern California, Joy found a connection with Zan, short for Alexander, that made the transition bearable. Now Zan is gone, and his best friend Noah, who had promised to keep an eye on her, is bugging her to snap out of it. Joy decides that a road trip to the college campus where Zan is a freshman will help her achieve closure and peace of mind. Only Noah is willing to accompany her—take her, actually, in his vintage SAAB 900. The romantic conclusion is safely assured. The faith that is shared by almost all the characters mingles into the narrative in an unusual and kind of quirky way. The church is never the focus, just a natural part of the environment, making it a refreshing element in an otherwise shopworn plot. Annoying as Joy is at first with her obsession with Zan, it soon becomes clear that she is an unreliable narrator, which adds intrigue. Short, present-tense chapters with some lists and almost poetic interludes interspersed keep the pages turning relatively painlessly. Light, clean and completely predictable, this charming romance has a decidedly old-fashioned feel. (Fiction. YA)