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Thursday, December 10, 2009

If I stay, written by gayle forman. Dutton, Penguin Group (Canada), 2009. $21.00 ages 13 and up



“The car is eviscerated. The impact of a four-ton pickup truck going sixty miles an hour plowing straight into the passenger side had the force of an atomic bomb. It tore off the doors, sent the front-side passenger seat through the driver’s-side window. It flipped the chassis, bouncing it across the road and ripped the engine apart as if it were no stronger than a spiderweb. It tossed wheels and hubcaps deep into the forest. It ignited bits of the gas tank, so that now tiny flames lap at the wet road.”

In the relatively short span of twenty-four hours, much can happen...and it does! A light snowstorm cancels school early in the morning and shortly thereafter, the roads clear and Mia and her family decide to take a drive. What then happens is out of a horror movie. Her family is involved in a horrendous car crash, that leaves Mia the only survivor. As the remaining relatives gather round to support her, we watch (from Mia's perspective) what is happening and learn about her life. We also come to realize that she is having an out-of-body experience and trying to make her own decision about whether she should stay, or go...to be with her family.

In listening to her struggle to make that decision, we learn much about her life...that she is a cellist who has a scholarship to Juilliard. Her boyfriend, Adam, is in an up-and-coming band who will have to start travelling now that they are making a move in the music industry. Together, they are dealing with tension about the changes they see ahead of them and wondering how it will affect their relationship. As we watch her family and friends root for her, and offer their love and support, we cannot help but feel the same way.

I have no idea how both Love, Aubrey and if I stay reached the top of my reading pile at the same time, but I can tell you that I spent much of my reading time drying my tears as I got to know two amazing young women faced with the most unbelievable circumstances. What powerful and memorable stories they share!

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