Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins

I feel like I've got a good run going with two really good Newbery winners in a row! I really liked Criss Cross and I felt like it was an actually realistic representation of what it is like to be a young teenager. There were no big dramatic events for any of the kids in this book, but the book really understood what it felt like to be a kid, but also just what it's like to be a teenager. The conversations were real, but also, the way that people thought was real. I loved several of the quotes in here, about how people just miss opportunities without even knowing it:

"So often in books, or in movies, one character looks at another character and understands in a precise way what that person is feeling. So often in real life, one person wants to be understood, but obscures her feelings with unrelated words and facial expressions, while the other person is trying to remember whether she did or didn't turn off the burner under the hard-boiled eggs."

It felt so applicable and believable for me even today, but especially for teenagers as well. I loved this, especially by the end. It was really sweet.