Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall — Wendy Mass

Tessa Reynolds is finishing up her junior year of high school. She's just had a humiliating experience at the prom, and she's constantly struggling with her weight and her perfectionist mother.

When she sees a dodgeball zooming toward her head in gym class, she doesn't bother to duck. As she falls to the gym floor, she floats up to what seems to be heaven while examining the scene beneath her. When she arrives, she finds that heaven looks a lot like the mall, where she's spent most of her free time over the years.

After initially rebelling at having to relive what are often painful memories, she slowly begins to gain a better perspective of her life, her friends, and her family. She sees the decisions she made, and now, with hindsight, she can learn from them. She is given the choice to return to her life, and she takes it, armed with a new self-esteem and big hopes for her future. After all, high school doesn't last forever.