Love and Other Foreign Words (McCahan)

Love and Other Foreign Words 
Erin McCahan, 2014
Dial Books
336 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780803740518


Summary
Equal parts comedy and coming of age—a whip-smart, big-hearted, laugh-out-loud love story about sisters, friends, and what it means to love at all.

Can anyone be truly herself—or truly in love—in a language that's not her own?

Sixteen-year-old Josie lives her life in translation. She speaks High School, College, Friends, Boyfriends, Break-ups, and even the language of Beautiful Girls. But none of these is her native tongue—the only people who speak that are her best friend Stu and her sister Kate.

So when Kate gets engaged to an epically insufferable guy, how can Josie see it as anything but the mistake of a lifetime? Kate is determined to bend Josie to her will for the wedding; Josie is determined to break Kate and her fiance up. As battles are waged over secrets and semantics, Josie is forced to examine her feelings for the boyfriend who says he loves her, the sister she loves but doesn't always like, and the best friend who hasn't said a word—at least not in a language Josie understands. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1967-68
• Where—East Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
• Rasied—Bexley, Ohio
• Education—B.A., Capital University
• Currently—lives near Columbus, Ohio


Erin McCahan is an Ohio-dwelling, unabashedly Styx-loving, full-time writer who enjoys a variety of hobbies, excluding role-playing, sticky things, and karaoke. She lives in New Albany, near Columbus, with her husband. (From the publisher.)

Visit the author's website.

Book Reviews
(Starred review.) Fifteen-year-old Josie Sheridan may have a genius-level IQ, but that doesn’t mean she understands everything. One concept she has trouble grasping is romantic love, especially when it comes to her older sister Kate’s inexplicable attraction to her nerdy librarian fiance, Geoff. Josie is sure that Geoff is completely wrong for Kate.
Publishers Weekly


Josie Sheridan, 15.4 years old, knows a lot about social language. With a schedule that involves both high school and college courses, she has learned to adapt her communication style in order to fit in with both groups. However, Josie can't seem to wrap her head around the language of Love.... [For those] who want a quirky love story (grade 8 up). —Kimberly Castle-Alberts, Hudson Library & Historical Society, OH
Library Journal


Fifteen-year-old Josie....loves languages of all kinds, but has to work hard at understanding the current language of her peers.... Even though Josie is “different,” she has friends and family who accept her without her having to downplay her intelligence, which makes it easy to empathize with her inner struggle to figure out her life (ages 11 to 18). —Jane Van Wiemokly
Voya


Josie's a rarity in teen literature, a genuine original. Being gifted sets her apart. Armored by arch mannerisms, trying to control what can't be controlled, wanting and fearing love, she's one of us. Lively characters and a satisfying plot foil reader expectations in the best possible way (ages 12-18).
Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions
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