Party School is a novel by the author Jon Hart. This book has complex characters, relatable scenarios, and fantastic plot twists. Dylan Mills is barely graduating from high school but is determined to be college bound.  He is a varsity swimmer and has a beautiful girlfriend, whose name is Rosemary. He is heartbroken when she breaks the bad news to him that she wants to separate because they are going to different colleges. Rosemary wants to keep her options open and explore her colleges instead of being stuck on the phone in a long-distance relationship. 

When they both leave their town, he starts a three-day trip to North-South College. He was supposed to go with his parents, but he didn’t want them to constantly judge him because the school is known for the “best weed” in the entire world.  

 When his parents realize that he is gone for good, they go through separation anxiety and start to call his dorm room RA, often panicking. When he finally wakes up he has a couple of missing calls from his parents telling him that it wouldn’t bother him to call them.  Dylan learns that you can’t keep everyone in your life because things or people can change pretty fast and once you understand that you need to adapt, move on, and don’t go back to the past because there is a future waiting for you.

This book is fantastic because it is relatable to young people, especially when you’ve barely finished high school and college is just ahead.  Switching to college right after high school is a significant change because you have to make new friends, meet your professors, and adapt to new surroundings. Hart is very good at providing the imagery of the setting and the emotion of the characters while tapping into the typical dilemmas that young people face. I strongly recommend this to people who like romantic comedies and dramas.