Lynnie is expecting a car for her 16th birthday, because everyone at her private school gets that. Instead, she receives an old charm bracelet with chipped birds hanging off it. It belonged to her mother, but even that information isn't enough to keep Lynnie from being angry over the gift. After Lynnie ditches school to learn to surf, her father gives her a very long letter her mother had written many years ago to someone named Noah, and Lynnie begins to discover her family's secrets -- including why she's never met her own grandparents. Lynnie finds out how courageous her mother had to be early on in life, and to prove she is like that, she goes surfing during a big swell and almost drowns. This brings her closer to those she loves -- her father and her new boyfriend. This story has three different points of view and an interesting premise. For 8th grade and up. ( )

Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

Does the name Barbara Hall sound familiar? It does to me because she has written and produced a number of my favorite TV shows - Judging Amy, Chicago Hope, and Joan of Arcadia. I knew she had also written some books, but I hadn't read any. THE NOAH CONFESSIONS caught my eye at the bookstore, and then I saw her name and snatched it up pronto!

Lynnie Russo doesn't remember much about her mom, but she's about to learn way more than she ever thought there was to know. Her mom died in what everyone refers to as a "bad car wreck." Having a dead mom puts Lynnie in a special category at her private L.A. prep school. Everyone there is known for something, and this is Lynnie's "something."

A sixteenth birthday in Lynnie's neighborhood means a new car. Lynnie's expectations are not necessarily new, maybe a modest used VW, but definitely a car. Surprise! Her dad hands her a small box. Car keys? Nope, just a cheap looking charm bracelet with birds on it. You've got to be kidding. Where's the car? Dad says there isn't one.

There is something else though. Lynnie's dad also gives her a manuscript. It is a letter written by her mother back when she was fifteen, almost sixteen. It is supposed to explain her mother's life. All Lynnie knows as she begins to read the lengthy letter to some mysterious Noah person; it is not a car.

Barbara Hall takes readers on a journey with Lynnie as she discovers a huge secret about her mother's life. Imagine thinking you know the people who have surrounded you for your entire life only to discover a whole other world full of secrets. THE NOAH CONFESSIONS will suck you in before the end of the first chapter. ( )

Deb Hipes says, character is what you take with you and leave behind, you can't go forward without knowing and dealing with your past

Within the genre of books with rebellious girls without mothers, this one is one of the better ones. The motherless heroine doens't spend a lot of time in self pitty or lamentation. Her search to "find" her mother is mildly interesting, but what I really liked about it was the characterization. ( )

Sounded like it would be great, but it turned out to be really, really dull. The main character finds out,through letters, long after the fact, that her mother witnessed her father kill a girl, and was talked into not saying anything. Started off great, but got really dull after a while. I didn't enjoy it. There were a few good lines:
"Jen, a little circulation in the brain, if it's not too much trouble."
Girls bruise each other's ribs when you walk past, and you must notice that sudden flurry of whispers that trail you like a lapdog." ( )