Snail Mail, No More [Hardcover]

Ann Martin (Author), Paula Danziger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2000 | Age Level: 9 and up

Best friends Elizabeth and Tara*Starr are still corresponding regularly - how, via e-mail. As they deal with big changes in their lives, their long- distance friendship is put to the test.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Tara*Starr and Elizabeth finally have e-mail and they are sooooooo excited. After a year of snail mail following Tara*Starr's move to Ohio (chronicled in P.S. Longer Letter Later), the long-distance friends are ready for the more immediate gratification of e-mail. Eighth grade turns out to be as intense as seventh, with still more challenges to the best friends' relationship, including new local friendships for each, a baby sibling on the way for Tara*Starr, devastating drama from Elizabeth's alcoholic and absent father, and ever-broadening horizons for both teens.

Two terrifically popular authors, Paula Danziger (The Cat Ate My Gymsuit) and Ann M. Martin (The Baby-Sitters Club series), make a wildly contrasting yet compatible team, as reflected in Martin's reserved and introspective Elizabeth, and Danziger's exuberantly hyperbolical Tara*Starr. Honest and unpredictable, and oh-so-current, the book addresses many of the issues that plague and perplex teenagers today: dating, drinking, friendships, changing relationships with parents, divorce, even death. Impossible to put down, this novel in e-mail messages is every bit as warm, complex, profound, and moving as the authors' first team effort. (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly

With just a glance at the cover of this alternately funny and poignant sequel, fans of Danziger and Martin's P.S. Longer Letter Later will know that pen pals Tara*Starr and Elizabeth have entered the 21st century. The best buddies, whose friendship evolved from daily visits to eagerly anticipated missives sent via postal carrier in the first novel, now have traded pencil for mouse. Danziger and Martin make the most of e-mail technology. When Tara*Starr's mother encounters a bumpy point in her pregnancy, readers sense the tension mounting as Elizabeth's barrage of concerned "instant messages" goes unanswered; at one point, Tara*Starr even chides Elizabeth that she probably prefers the more deliberate nature of letter-writing to e-mail. With electronic correspondence spanning Elizabeth's summer visit to Tara's new Ohio home, the start of eighth grade, friendships with boys that metamorphose into more and weightier family issues, this book speaks just as authentically to middle graders as the authors' previous title did. The two characters approach life differently enough that there will likely be a response or suggestion that resonates with every reader, and both heroines share one important trait: they are all heart. Ages 8-12. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Press; 1st edition (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439063353
• ISBN-13: 978-0439063357
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,531,367 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two spirited girls sharing very different lives, February 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Snail Mail, No More (Hardcover)

I loved P.S. Longer Letter Later, so I was looking forward to this book. I was not disappointed. The book is well written and riveting; the reader cares about the two girls and their families. Some very challenging (new sibling) and difficult (alcoholic father) family situations are discussed with sensitivity and skill, as are the beginnings of interest in romance. I could really hear the voices of the two protagonists as they begin to confront the issues that face all young teenagers today.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Snail Mail Does Not Fail!, April 22, 2000

By 

Shari Fesko (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Snail Mail, No More (Hardcover)

I am a 30 year old and after reading this novel (in one night) I was taken right back in time to my teen years just as I was in the original book PS Longer Letter Later. A fellow younger reviewer felt some of the behavior and language of the characters especially TaraStarr did not ring true, but in my opinion that is not the case. There is always those few that go their own way and thats Tara as you see in her emails to Emily the much more conservative teen. Through these emails you see the girls discovering the pain and pleasure of growing up while trying to keep their friendship going despite the miles between them. Time and again they point out to each other how different they are but in the end despite having other "best friends" they always come back to each other. I also have to disagree with the recommended age on this book I am a Teen librarian and have PS in my Teen area where it goes out a bunch I just had the childrens area give me Snail Mail which I had not yet ordered and now do not have to. This really is a book about middle schoolers that deserves to be read by middle schoolers and anyone who has any interest in middle schoolers (especially those like myself who work with this age).

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Snail Mail No More, December 14, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Snail Mail, No More (Hardcover)

The book "Snail Mail No More" is a wonderful book. The protaginists are named TaraStar and Elizabeth. They are both 13 years old and best friends but TaraStar lives in Ohio and Elizabeth lives in New Jersey.Their goal is to make their friendship last. Their barrier is that their own conflicts may get in the way between the two of them. One conflict is that Elizabeth's father left her and her family or another on is that TaraStar's mother had a baby. Their lives are changing and it's hard for them to keep a long lasting friendship.
The author's style of writing is very interesting because it's all in e-mails. I really liked how the author did that because it makes the book fun to read and is not like anyother regular book.
I really liked this book and I could read it as many times and it still wouldn't be boring to me. It's honest about things that happen and things that might happen to anybody. It has humor and it is also sad. I loved it and is a great book.