Just Listen (2006) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

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• Annabel Greene: The youngest of three sisters. Annabel used to be popular, but she loses all of her friends and becomes a loner. She is a model, but wants to quit. Annabel has a hard time telling her mother, as she hates any confrontation of any kind. She has a habit of not telling the truth so she can try to spare people's feelings.
• Owen Armstrong: Owen is a quiet kind of person, and he is a loner at school. In general, he doesn't talk much at all, unless you know him. He looks unapproachable to everyone. He quickly finds friendship with Annabel, and she is suprised to find that he is brutally honest. He is music-obsessed and a reformed bad boy and has insightful, enlightened thoughts about the world that any reader will find inspirational. He also has an annoying little sister, Mallory, who is obsessed with Annabelle Greene. He had anger management problems in the past which caused him to go to Anger Management. He also has his own radio show named Anger Management that airs every Sunday morning at seven.
• Kirsten Greene: The oldest sister, Kirsten used to be a model, but decided to quit. She was very rebellious during her teenage years. She and Whitney stop talking to each other for months, and she goes to college, and ends up loving her classes. She is cheery and bubbly, and never stops talking.
• Whitney Greene: Annabel and Kirsten's middle sister, who is said to be beautiful, and was also a model. Whitney becomes anorexic and has an eating disorder. She struggles throughout the book to get over her eating disorder and move on.
• Mallory Armstrong: Owen's hyper, pop music loving little sister, who adores Annabel for her modeling abilities. She is also obsessed with Annabel. She strives to be just like Annabel
• Clarke Reynolds: A girl who used to be Annabel's best friend, but it ended one night when Annabel chose Sophie over her, by following Sophie to the pool at night. When Clarke couldn't. Anabelle eventually started to regret the decision she had made greatly. Annabel thought Clarke hated her, when Clarke thought Annabel hated her.
• Sophie Rawlins: Very fiesty and mean, also one of Annabel's ex-best friends. Broke up with Annabel because she thought she had slept with Will Cash, her boyfriend.
• Rolly: Owen's best friend and assistant in Owen's radio show. Works as a punchbag in a self defense place.
• Lindy: Annabel's agent.
• Will Cash: Sophie's boyfriend.
• Jessica Norfolk: One of the schoolmates of Annabel.
• Angela: She is the dark-haired friend of Mallory.
• Jenny Reef: A pop singer Mallory loves, and Owen hates.
• Brian: Kristen's TA in New York
• Hillary Prescott: She is also a model of Lakeview. She is a huge gossip and an instigator of rumors.
• Moira Bell: Whitney's psychiatrist.
• Mamie: She is also a Lakeview model who was thin and has a long face and high cheekbones.
• Dexter: He is a guy with curly black hair.
• Remy: She is Dexter's smart, blonde girlfriend
• Grace Greene: She is Annabel's mom.
• Tabitha Johnson: One of the schoolmates of Annabel.
• Molly Clayton: Kirsten's best friend.
• Emily Shuster: Annabel met her at their modeling agency. She was younger than her and a new girl to their town that time.
• Ronnie: He is the biggest bully or jerk in school.
• Andrew Greene: He is Annabel's father.
• Chris Pennington: He was Annabel's crush.
• Bill: He is Chris's best friend.
• Greg Nichols: He is an obnoxious junior.
• Mrs. McMurty: She is the director of the models.
• Teresa Armstrong: She is Owen and Mallory's mother.
• Elinor: She is the blonde friend of Mallory.
• Mr. Driscoll: He is the head of marketing for Kopf's.
• Ted: He is a guy with a short, dark hair who is a friend of Owen.
• Esther: She is the emcee at Jump Java.
• Jane: She is a very tall and thin girl who is part of Whitney's group.
• Heather: She is part of Whitney's group and she is about Annabel's age.

Quotes edit see section history

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• “Silence is so freaking loud!”

  Owen Armstrong

• “Don't think or judge; just listen.”

  Annabelle Greene

• “Shhh Annabel, it's just me.”

  Annabelle Greene

• “There comes a time when the world gets quiet and the only thing left is your own heart. So you'd better learn the sound of it. Otherwise you'll never understand what it's saying.”

  Owen Armstrong

• “The unknown isn't always the greatest thing to fear. The people who know you best can be riskier, because the words they say and the things they think have the potential to be not only scary but true, as well.”

  Annabelle Greene

• “Some people think they like music, but they have no idea what it’s really about. They’re kidding themselves. Then there are people who feel strongly about music, but just aren’t listening to the right stuff. They’re misguided. And then there are people like me.”

  Owen Armstrong

• “Music is a total constant. That’s why we have such a strong visceral connection to it, you know? Because a song can take you back instantly to a moment, or a place, or even a person. No matter what else has changed in you or the world, that one song stays the same, just like that moment.”

  Owen Armstrong

• “'Bacon?' I repeated. 'Which song is that?'”

  Annabelle Greene

• “I said, maybe it sounds incredible in the car wash.”

  Annabelle Greene

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• There comes a time in every life when the world gets quiet and the only thing left is your own heart. So you’d better learn to know the sound of it. Otherwise you’ll never understand what it’s saying.

  Highlighted by 66 Kindle customers

• a song can take you back instantly to a moment, or a place, or even a person. No matter what else has changed in you or the world, that one song stays the same, just like that moment. Which is pretty amazing, when you actually think about it.”

  Highlighted by 57 Kindle customers

• Because that is what happens when you try to run from the past. It doesn’t just catch up: it overtakes, blotting out the future, the landscape, the very sky, until there is no path left except that which leads through it, the only one that can ever get you home.

  Highlighted by 55 Kindle customers

• I was beginning to see, though, that the unknown wasn’t always the greatest thing to fear. The people who know you best can be riskier, because the words they say and the things they think have the potential to be not only scary but true, as well.

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• But being nice wasn’t as easy as it seemed, especially when the rest of the world could be so mean.

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• The past did affect the present and the future, in the ways you could see and a million ones you couldn’t. Time wasn’t a thing you could divide easily; there was no defined middle or beginning or end. I could pretend to leave the past behind, but it would not leave me.

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• If you don’t pay attention to the past, you’ll never understand the future. It’s all linked together.

  Highlighted by 45 Kindle customers

• I wondered which was harder, in the end. The act of telling, or who you told it to. Or maybe if, when you finally got it out, the story was really all that mattered.

  Highlighted by 39 Kindle customers

• “The thing is,” Rolly said, “it’s a big deal when you finally get the chance to do the one thing you want to do—need to do—more than anything. It can kind of scare the crap out of you.”

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• But you can’t always get the perfect moment. Sometimes, you just have to do the best you can, under the circumstances.

  Highlighted by 33 Kindle customers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Community Radio Station: It is located in a squat, square building that had once been a bank.
• Fountain School: It is the 'Hippie School.'
• A-Frame: It is a house outside of town that people can rent.
• Perkins Day: It is the local private school.
• Bendo: It is a club over on Finley.
• Armstorngs' House: It is a beautiful, gray house with a wide front porch with a swing, and bright pink flowers in pots lining the steps.
• Jump Java: It is a coffee shop.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• R and R: It means, "Rephrase and Redirect."
• I-Lang: It means, "Inflammatory Language."
• Thinking Toward the Middle: It means not only thinking in extremes. Either one get what he wants or he doesn't. Either one is right or he is wrong.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Sarah Dessen (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. Nancy Brennan (Designer) - Book design
2. Penguin Group (NZ) (Publisher)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Abraham Lincoln Award (Finalist, 2011: Young Adult fiction)
• Gateway Readers Award (2009: Grades 9-12)
• ALA Best Book for Young Adults (2007, #2)

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Add a note to help parents select a book for a child.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Teens › Authors, A-Z › ( D ) › Dessen, Sarah
• Books › Teens › Social Issues › Sexual Abuse
• Books › Teens › Literature & Fiction

More Books Like This edit see section history