This Is What Happy Looks Like, by Jennifer E. Smith

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If fate sent you an email, would you answer?

When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds.

Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs? 



Confession: I was worried about how much I would like this book.  I loved Smith's The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, but I wasn't sure about this storyline.  Hasn't the hot-famous-actor-falls-in-love-with-a-local-girl plot been explored before?  And with varying degrees of success?

Confession, Part 2: I want to be the local girl with whom the hot famous actor falls in love.  I love The Husband very much and no one could ever replace him.

You know what happy looks like?  This book.  I love the e-mails between Ellie and Graham.  Each chapter begins with a slight interaction between the two, and it sets the tone for the pages that follow.  They get to know each other as two random teenagers, not as a movie star and an "unknown girl."

This is a sweet story that I'd recommend to middle grade readers and up.  

What does happy look like to you?