The Six Rules of Maybe

Publishers Weekly

When 17-year-old Scarlett's older sister, Juliet, moves back home pregnant, she brings with her a romantic new husband “she'd never before even mentioned.” While Scarlett's feelings for Hayden grow—she secretly reads the love notes he writes to Juliet and sneaks out to join him for late-night chats—he remains devoted to her pretty sister, who in turn seems fixated on her loser high school boyfriend. Caletti's (The Secret Life of Prince Charming) main characters are well drawn and complex, especially mature Scarlett, who, to her own detriment, is constantly looking after everyone else in her life. Readers may find some of Scarlett's neighbors over the top, such as an elderly couple whose belief in Internet scams leads them to Africa. Scarlett's devotion to them also seems extreme, but it clarifies both why “being needed sometimes made me feel good” and why she feels connected to kind Hayden. In the end, readers will be willing to overlook some of the more outlandish characters to focus on the moving story involving Scarlett and her family. Ages 12-up. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

When 17-year-old Scarlett's older sister, Juliet, moves back home pregnant, she brings with her a romantic new husband “she'd never before even mentioned.” While Scarlett's feelings for Hayden grow—she secretly reads the love notes he writes to Juliet and sneaks out to join him for late-night chats—he remains devoted to her pretty sister, who in turn seems fixated on her loser high school boyfriend. Caletti's (The Secret Life of Prince Charming) main characters are well drawn and complex, especially mature Scarlett, who, to her own detriment, is constantly looking after everyone else in her life. Readers may find some of Scarlett's neighbors over the top, such as an elderly couple whose belief in Internet scams leads them to Africa. Scarlett's devotion to them also seems extreme, but it clarifies both why “being needed sometimes made me feel good” and why she feels connected to kind Hayden. In the end, readers will be willing to overlook some of the more outlandish characters to focus on the moving story involving Scarlett and her family. Ages 12–up. (Mar.)

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up—Seventeen-year-old Scarlet, self-appointed savior, learns a lesson in the pitfalls of trying to control the lives of others in Deb Caletti's novel (Simon Pulse, 2010). The story begins with her older sister, Juliet, suddenly returning home, married and pregnant, accompanied by her architect-student husband, Hayden, and his dog. Juliet, Hayden, the girls' mom, various colorful neighbors, and an assortment of classmates all with complicated issues drive concerned, busybody Scarlet to an emotional climax as she tries to fill the roles of matchmaker, social worker, psychotherapist, and marriage counselor, while simultaneously dealing with her crush on Hayden. A neighbor's fire and the concurrent loss of Hayden's dog, her sister's disappearance, and the loss of Hayden himself break Scarlet's fix-it track and lead to an epiphany: she can't continue trying to control everyone's life. Teri Clark Linden differentiates the characters, but her rendition of teen voices makes them sound unrealistic. Slow speech and odd inflections are not true to today's teen speech; her adult voices are performed well. The retro song excerpts Linden sings are not true to the original tunes. Note that there is plenty of profanity. Barring the odd teen speech, this audiobook should be popular with girls who enjoy adolescent über-drama.—Jennifer Ward, Albany Public Library, NY

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up—Caletti invites readers into Scarlet Hughes's life and all its "maybes." The introspective teen copes when her charismatic older sister, Juliet, shows up suddenly married (and pregnant) after time away at a Portland hotel singing gig. Both Scarlet and her mother quickly come to adore her husband—Scarlet perhaps a little too much. Hayden is not only smart and good-looking, but he is also funny, great at listening, and deeply in love with Juliet. He writes her poetry and love notes, which Scarlet cannot help but read. She also can't seem to stop trying to help her motley collection of neighbors. The elderly couple too easily conned by Internet scams, the Goth girl whose chalk drawings inspire some prom date interference, and the retired postal worker who is flirting with senility are all part of Scarlet's habit of trying to fix things. Maybe she can stop her sister's tendency to run scared of the commitment Hayden offers her and her yearning for her train wreck of an old boyfriend. Maybe she can convince her mother that she shouldn't marry someone who spends all his time criticizing her. Maybe she can make up with the friend whose crush seems to like Scarlet instead. All of these dealings are about hope as the fuel of one's dreams and efforts, about the frequent necessity of persistence, and about how to know when to let go. Reminiscent of the best of Sarah Dessen's work, this novel is beautifully written, deftly plotted, and movingly characterized.—Suzanne Gordon, Peachtree Ridge High School, Suwanee, GA

Kirkus Reviews

Analyzing other people's emotions and motivations is Scarlet Ellis's greatest talent. At school, she's close to few but a confidante to all. Her quiet home life consists mostly of taking pictures and involving herself in her neighbors' business. Since childhood she's idolized her older sister, Juliet, who comes home pregnant and married after years of working as a singer. Scarlet forms a strong bond with Juliet's husband, Hayden, and becomes convinced that Juliet is cheating on him with her high-school boyfriend. At the same time, Scarlet finds herself falling for Hayden. Narrator Scarlet is content to tell everyone's story but her own, and as a result, no plot ever really develops beyond her thoughts. Though Scarlet is thoughtful and well read in psychology, many of her observations about other people's relationships come off as melodramatic rather than enlightening. The most interesting story line involves Scarlet's matchmaking of two oddball classmates, a feat that shows off her interpersonal skills. Overall, because of her lack of focus and sense of self, readers may have a hard time sympathizing with her. (Fiction. YA)

From the Publisher

“Reminiscent of the best of Sarah Dessen’s work, this novel is beautifully written, deftly plotted, and movingly characterized.” –School Library Journal

“Caletti is a wonderfully gifted writer. Her prose is infused with wisdom and wit, and her characters are all deeply layered. Readers of all ages will undoubtedly enjoy this.” –Romantic Times BOOKREVIEWS

“Scarlet’s adoration of Hayden is both poignant and realistic... Juliet’s pursuit of an old boyfriend, a bad boy, rings true.” — Booklist

“The main characters are well drawn and complex.” –Publishers Weekly

Scarlet's characterization is particularly original...Her relationship with Hayden...is touching and credible...The fact that all three women...struggle with their view of men is explored with particular depth and subtlety...— The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, May 2010

Caletti tells her layered, engaging story in her usual style that includes lots of introspection on the part of her narrator, a multitude of fascinating characters, and loads of skillfully crafted sentences that will entice readers racing through to slow down and re-read with pleasure before speeding on again. — Jennifer M. Brabander, Horn Book Magazine, May/June 2010

Juliet was always in the lead, and I was her echo.” So says seventeen-year-old Scarlet about her older sister, who is once again in the lead, having returned home with a husband neither Scarlet nor her mother have ever heard of, let alone met, and a baby on the way. As the summer progresses, Scarlet grows close to Hayden, Juliet’s husband, and begins to worry that Juliet’s old selfishness is going to destroy her new family even before it’s established. Caletti’s fluid, musing style and keen perceptions serve her particularly well in this depiction of Scarlet’s summer of maturation; it’s not so much that the external events are momentous as they believably provide just enough impetus for Scarlet to enrich and transform her view of herself, her sister, and her family. Scarlet’s characterization is particularly original: a happy meddler in people’s lives, she adores leaving secret gifts and pulling strings in ways that will bring joy, and she empathizes too much with clingy lonely outsiders to tell them to get lost. Her relationship with Hayden, a combination of friendship, protectiveness, and crush, is touching and credible, and it provides an effective agent for her increasing flashes of greater understanding. The fact that all three women, Scarlet, Juliet, and their mother, struggle with their view of men is explored with particular depth and subtlety, each is affected in her own way not only by the departure of Scarlett and Juliet’s father but by the responses of the other two to that fact. This is a kind of reconsideration that’s a key component of maturation, and young adults in the thick of the process will find much of themselves in Scarlet’s journey. — BULLETIN, May 2010, STAR