If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Seventeen-year-old Mia has everything: a promising career as a cellist, awesome former-punk parents that really get her and her music, and best of all, an understanding alterna-rock boyfriend who is the yang to her yin. Then one day on a routine drive near their home, her family is involved in a terrible car accident. Mia’s life is nearly lost. Now treading a fuzzy comatose line between life and death, Mia has to decide whether she wants to give up and let go or stay and fight. As the minutes tick by during the the longest day of Mia’s life, she mentally contemplates the consequences of either choice. Friends and relatives move in and out of her hospital room and her memory, each one weighing in on Mia’s decision, whether they know it or not. As the dawn breaks the day after her accident, Mia finally decides what she wants to do. Then one last person speaks, and everything changes once again…you may think you’ve read this story before, but you haven’t. Not the way Gayle Forman tells it, in an unsentimental and sincere way that may remind you of certain other well-crafted weep-tastic reads on this list, but which has a unique style all its own. Best of all are Forman’s characterizations, especially of Mia’s punk rock parents, who remain realistically cool for adults, despite their suburban trappings. You won’t want to miss this evocative tearjerker, which will be wending its way to a library or bookstore near you April 2009. (2 weepies)
Abby said,
November 20, 2008 @ 7:57 pm
Wow… this sounds great! I will definitely be looking for this one when it comes out. Thanks for posting!
Liz said,
November 23, 2008 @ 12:47 pm
I am very happy to say that I am among the few who got an advanced copy, and let me just say that this is my all-time favorite book now. The way Forman writes is amazing, and the plot is so much fun to follow. I totally recommend it; EVERYONE should buy it when it comes out.
mitzi said,
November 24, 2008 @ 11:22 pm
sounds like a really good book
i am a total sucker for all the weepy-ish-type-books, but i dont even know why? but who cares this book sounds like one that ima be totaly into.
cant wait for it, a million thanks for commenting on it…..and for all the time that you spend on the website just to make sure that not necessarily teens only but anyone can get a great description on the books!
thnx lots,
mitzi
Amira said,
December 1, 2008 @ 1:22 pm
Oh, this sounds great. One to definitely look out for!
Jessicya said,
December 18, 2008 @ 11:04 am
I was able to get a copy from my English teacher.
An amazing book and a recomend read!!!!!
Zoey Resse said,
December 18, 2008 @ 11:07 am
Seventeen is an inconvenient time to be in love. Mia has two loves in her life – her first love music, and boyfriend Adam. Half of Mia wants more than anything to go to Juilliard, a prestigious music school. But Julliard is in New York, and Adam is in Oregon. At least, he’s in Oregon sometimes – his band Shooting Star is starting to take off and he’s always busy. Between Mia’s rehearsals and Adam’s gigs they barely have any time to spend together as it is. Would their relationship survive if she went to Juilliard?
Then one day Mia’s family go for a drive, and their car is hit by a pickup truck. Mia’s parents are killed instantly and Mia finds herself outside of her own body. She can’t feel or do anything, just watch as her body is transported to the hospital, put on a ventilator and operated on. Then she watches as her family come, her Gran and Gramps, her aunts and uncles, then her friend Kim and finally Adam.
Mia has a choice to make, but it’s no longer music or Adam. It’s the only choice that really matters in the end. Life or death. But with everything she’s lost, does she have enough left to live for?
Oh dear this book made me cry. It’s not very often a book can move me to tears – usually I need to be listening to soppy music to get that lump in the throat, but If I Stay needed no musical assistance. It’s tragic, it’s beautiful and it’s brilliant.
For the first few pages, If I Stay comes across like a light hearted story about a teenager, her love life and her kooky family, but from the moment Forman hits you with the devastatingly detached description of the aftermath of the crash, you know you’ve picked up something special.
What follows is a touching and emotional examination of love in all its forms – the love between children and parents, teenage love, love for music, love between friends, the bond people share through mutual love of another person – and the choices, and sacrifices, we sometimes have to make for love.
Incredibly sad, but life affirming and heart warming, everyone who has ever had to make a difficult choice involving things they love should read this book. I challenge any of you not to cry on the final few pages!
If you enjoyed this, you may also like Before I Die by Jenny Downham and Just One Wish by Janette Rallison.
My thanks to the publishers for sending a copy of this wonderful book.
Lilliana said,
December 18, 2008 @ 11:10 am
Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love— music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind? Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it’s the only one that matters.
Emma Leigh said,
December 18, 2008 @ 11:12 am
In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck. A sophisticated, layered, and heart achingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make—and the ultimate choice Mia commands.
Ella said,
December 18, 2008 @ 11:13 am
An emotionally arresting novel sure to captivate teen listeners and Award Committees.
Anya said,
December 18, 2008 @ 11:13 am
Graceful, imaginative, and haunting, IF I STAY is both a page turner and a gentle, satisfying read.
Madilyn Paige said,
December 25, 2008 @ 7:12 pm
I got the book early. Maybe that explains the spelling errors. Oh well, I really didn’t mind.
I am being honest. Understand that I am a harsh critic.
I thought it got slow at parts. However, I couldn’t put the book down. Every second I was flipping the pages wondering, does Mia live? You’ll have to read to find out. Got it for christmas, and heck read it in one day. Captivating read, but the end was written so well that it will take your breath away.