Fifteen Hundred Miles From the Sun Meets Just Dance 2

Welcome to BookishEnds! This post is going to be pure chaos if you couldn’t tell from the title, so buckle up. It’s too early for me to post my review about the book, but also, how am I even supposed to put into words what this book meant to me? So for now, we’re gonna do a fun post that I hope will convince you to preorder or request this book at your library. It publishes on 06/08/2021. Now don’t ask me how my mind made the connection between Fifteen Hundred Miles From the Sun and Just Dance 2. Just be glad it did.

Now if you’re not familiar with Just Dance 2, it’s a dancing game played on the Wii. You choose a song from their list and follow the dance moves on the screen. The dances range in difficulty, but the better you do the move, the more points you get. It gets really competitive when you do it with other people or if you’re like me and competed against yourself to break your own high score.

The ensemble in Fifteen Hundred Miles From the Sun was one of the best parts of the book, so I was thinking about what another one of their nights together would look like. Picture this: The group of friend’s at Xo’s (Mat’s sister’s) house on a Friday night. There’s mole cheese enchiladas in the kitchen. There’s an old Wii connected to the TV, so Itzel suggests they all play Just Dance 2. Cue their choices:

The Songs

Toxic by Brittany Spears — Jules

I feel like this choice doesn’t really need an explanation. Jules has taste.

Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne — Mat and Jules

Yes, Mat is also at this party. Jules accidentally hits Mat during the dance though, and Mat doesn’t have his wrist strap on tight enough and throws his controller across the room toward the end. It’s a mess, but they still score highly. Whoever was dancing to this song in the video was highkey struggling though.

Crazy in Love by Beyoncé ft Jay Z — Itzel

Itzel’s not gonna express her feelings in so many words publicly, but she’s not above dropping hints. Or maybe she’s talking about loving herself? Or she just likes Beyoncé. No one knows, but they applaud her performance.

That’s Not My Name by The Ting Tings — Itzel and Lou

The girls wanted to show off a little, and who doesn’t love an angry song.

American Boy by Estelle ft. Kanye West — Jordan and Piña

Jordan and Piña both get way too invested in the song and are sweating by the end of it. Jordan also rapped while he danced and basically turned it into a concert performance. Itzel acted like she wasn’t impressed by their performance.

When I Grow Up by The Pussycat Dolls — Jules, Lou, Itzel, and Jordan

The group wants to forget about their actual futures for a night, so they’re living in the illusion that one of them will hit it big and everyone else can coast off of that person’s success.

Jump in the Line by Harry Belafonte — Roe and Itzel; Mat and Jules

Roe and Itzel wanted to flex their dancing skills, but they needed people that could keep up with them. Mat is very confident him and Jules will do better, and Jules appreciates Mat’s misguided optimism.

Thanks so much for reading my post about Fifteen Hundred Miles From the Sun! If you’re not convinced to read it after this post, I don’t know what more I can say.