Lauren+M.

=Lauren M.=

//**If I Stay**// **by Gayle Forman**

IF I STAY, Gayle Forman’s outstanding debut novel, is an emotionally gripping story. As readers follow Mia's life after the accident, we also learn via plentiful flashbacks about her life before tragedy struck. Her colorful, vibrant family members are recalled so vividly that they could step off the page --- and break our hearts. Her remembrances highlight Mia's romance with her boyfriend and her passion for her music. Readers will find her predicament absorbing, and the book’s climax poignant and satisfying.
 * Review from Teen Reads **

**Why is this book important to me?** This book was important to me because I have never read a book with a story line even remotely similar to the one in //If I Stay.// The concept of the book resonated with me because I have some of the same beliefs as the author. I believe that when people are in a situation similar to the one that Mia was in they have a choice of how long they want to fight and when to give up. In addition, this book is important to me because it forced me to begin to read different types of books. It taught me that you should not "judge a book by its cover." When I first looked at the cover of //If I Stay// I never thought I would read it; however, I read the summary and began to read it and it is now one of my FAVORITE books. Lauren, I read this book with the old cover but I really like this cover too! It is a great experience to read a new kind of book and find you really like it. Mrs. Neary

** //A Bend in the Road// by Nicholas Sparks**

**Review from Barnes and Noble** The nearly thwarted but eventually triumphant romance of deputy sheriff Miles Ryan and second-grade teacher Sarah Andrews goes down as easily as marshmallow fluff and offers about as much real nourishment. Miles's high school sweetheart, Missy, was killed in an unsolved hit and run accident, leaving him to raise their son, Jonah, in New Bern, N.C. Sarah's politically ambitious husband, Michael, dumped her when her ovaries proved inactive, and she fled to New Bern to teach, and love, other people's kids. Miles and Sarah meet at a parent-teacher conference, and the sparks fly. But there's a fly in the ointment as well; an italicized voice threaded among the happy chapters alerts us that Missy's death was caused by someone whose identity, if revealed, could destroy Miles and Sarah's newfound joy. In Sparks's heaven, clouds exist to make silver linings look the brighter. As tough truth shadows their landscape, Miles and Sarah find depths within themselves, and their rekindled light illumines all. New Bern becomes a city of the reborn. Charlie Curtis, Miles's stickler boss, learns to bend; Missy's aimless killer morphs into a healer; and Jonah once again knows a mother's love.

**Why is this book important to me?** I greatly admire the love Miles has for his wife, even after she is gone, and the risks he will take in order to find some type of closure. I also love the fact that he still wants to protect his wife by finding the person who took Missy's life, and ruined both his and his son's life. This book is also important to me because Miles' story teaches you that life is not always fair and things can happen when you least expect them to; however, it is important to be strong and persevere.

**Melanie Belinsky:** I just started //A Bend in the Road// but so far it seems to follow the Nicolas Sparks signiture theme, which is one of my favorites. I can see the start of Miles journy to get closure and move on from his wife. checked by Mrs J 10/20 please edit your spelling etc! 20 pts