If I Stay, Gayle Forman

I'm going to try to do a service to this book because it is so good. Some of you may know that I haven't been able to stop crying while reading this book. I don't know if there are enough adjectives to describe this book. But I'll do the best I can. Mia is a seventeen year old cellist. She has a 7 year old brother and two parents who are the hippest, coolest parents a girl could want. Mia's love for music stems from her parents love of music. Mia's dad was in a band for many years and finally left it after the birth of their son, Teddy. Mia's life for all intents and purposes is blessed. She's got a great boyfriend, Adam. A wonderful best friend, Kim. But everything changes in a blink of an eye. Mia needs to struggle with a decision that may or may not be in her hands. Gayle Forman writes from the heart and tears and plucks at the heartstrings. Although Mia tells the story, it's the why of the story that just leaves that lump in the throat. We all have to make certain decisions and some of them are really, extremely difficult. With a litany or cacophony of friends to help her pull through the most traumatic of moments, Mia opens herself up to us and brings us inside of her head and her heart. A lot of the book is told in flashback, and Gayle weaves the vignettes beautifully. Telling a book in this style can either be too gooey or heavy handed, but Ms. Forman weaves the delicate balance beautifully. This book gets 5 Bookmarks!