If I Stay
By Gayle Foreman
Speak April 2010
262 pages
Borrowed from my sister
Mia is seventeen years old and life is good. Her family is close, her boyfriend Adam is head over heels for her, and it looks like her musical career will be taking its next steps at Julliard. But one snowy morning, Mia and her brother, mother, and father go for a drive. When the car crashes, Mia is left in a coma. Now she has an impossible choice to make - does she wake up and stay behind with Adam, her friends, and the life she knows or does she go into whatever is beyond this life?
You may know my apprehension about YA, but my sister insisted that this book was one to read and so I gave it a whirl. The best thing about this book was the fullness of Mia's life. As Mia looks at her own battered body, she starts to reminisce about her past and the ways that her friends and family have impacted her. I shudder at the YA stories where the characters are concerned only with getting or keeping a boyfriend. Mia does have a relationship with Adam, but she also has a best friend and a close relationship with her brother and parents. Even her extended family members play important parts in her life.
Mia discovers that she has the ability to decide if she lives or dies. The decision seems impossible mostly because she knows so little. If she goes, she believes she will be reunited with her parents. But she doesn't know that for sure. If she stays, she will be able to go to Julliard, spend more time with her boyfriend and friends, and experience the rest of life. Mia isn't sure if a world without her parents is a world that she wants to live in.
If I Stay manages to find the balance between being an emotional read without being emotionally manipulative. Times of tragedy bring out a lot of feelings in everyone, both in this book and in real life. As Mia's grandparents mourn and Adam begs Mia to stay with him, you can't help but debate the right choice along with Mia and hug your own loved ones a little closer.
Mia discovers that she has the ability to decide if she lives or dies. The decision seems impossible mostly because she knows so little. If she goes, she believes she will be reunited with her parents. But she doesn't know that for sure. If she stays, she will be able to go to Julliard, spend more time with her boyfriend and friends, and experience the rest of life. Mia isn't sure if a world without her parents is a world that she wants to live in.
If I Stay manages to find the balance between being an emotional read without being emotionally manipulative. Times of tragedy bring out a lot of feelings in everyone, both in this book and in real life. As Mia's grandparents mourn and Adam begs Mia to stay with him, you can't help but debate the right choice along with Mia and hug your own loved ones a little closer.
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