Heaven Looks A Lot Like the Mall by Wendy Mass

Here's a blurb about the book from the author's website, Ms. Wendy Mass: Disillusioned sixteen-year-old Tessa is pretty unhappy with life. One minute an Ashlee Simpson song is running through her mind in gym class, and the next a dodgeball comes hurtling at her head. The next thing Tessa knows, she's floating up to heaven, only to find that it bears a striking resemblance to her hometown mall. Written in free verse, Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall is the story of a spunky heroine who hasn't always made the right choices but who needs to discover what makes life worth living.

My Take

Okay, I have a confession to make.  I felt like I wasn't going to reach my goal of 100 books for the year, so I started reading some of the novels in verse I had been planning to read but hadn't gotten to.  I'm almost there.
This book starts out with Tessa being hit by a dodgeball and winding up in a coma.  Dodgeball is one tough game.  : )  She winds up in what looks very much like her local mall, where both of her parents work.  She begins going through her live, significant event by significant event.  A boy is her guide part of the time.  I love how this book is divided into the various stores that relate somehow to the events in her life. 

It becomes apparent that Tessa has definitely not always done the right thing.  And she rarely even feels remorse over it all.  Her moral compass is off kilter.  The boy prods her to figure out the question that must be answered while she's 'at the mall'.  We tag along for the ride and some of it is funny and some of it is annoying but you're always pulling for Tessa.  My favorite line is "Our lives are shaped by the future, not by the past."  I thought it was profound.  I thought the cover for this one was great.  I would say age 13 and up would like this one.  I'm giving it 4 heavenly kisses!