if i stay
by Gayle Forman
Published by Dutton (2009)
ISBN 9780142415436
Grades: 9 Up.
ISBN 9780142415436
Grades: 9 Up.
Book trailer
Tale
Mia is only 17 but she needs to make the hardest decision she will ever face in her life. Between life and death after a car accident which killed her entire family, Mia finds herself outside her body, which is lying in a hospital bed, in coma, surrounded by tubes, wires and machines. It is up to Mia the decision to endure life without her loving and caring parents and her beloved younger brother or never experience Adam’s kiss or the sound of her cello again. Mia tries to understand what is happening to her and how to get out of such a weird and emotionally painful situation. Although Mia cannot feel any sensation or pain, she narrates many events of her life with her family, her best friend Kin, her boyfriend Adam, and talks of her passion for classic music and her cello. Click here for a detailed summary by Terry Miller Shannon (Teen Reads).
Thought
If I Stay impresses on the reader the difficult reality of how things can change in an instant, for better or for worse. The day starts with an unexpected snow school holiday and the promise of a nice little ride with her beloved family, but ends in a situation nobody would wish for. It is a well written, beautiful and touching story permeated by family bonds, friendship, and love. In her flashbacks, Mia recounts moments all teenagers can identify with; choosing friends, deciding on a career, and falling in love for the first time. The music is a constant element and the contrasting genres of classical and rock n’roll find a way to complement each other, as described between generations and genders. The struggle Mia faces is deciding if life without her family is worthwhile and if death without becoming a professional cellist, a wife, and all other common events we all expect to experience in life is bearable. This decision becomes our own and is heartbreaking. Teens and adult readers will admire and care for this strong teenager; hoping she will make the right decision between unbearable choices. The novel has been published in 30 countries around the world.
If I Stay sequel Where She Went is coming in April 2011.
About the author
Gayle Forman started her career working for Seventeen magazine as a journalist interested in young adult issues. Later she became a freelance journalist writing for various magazines. Her first work as a writer, the travel memoir You Can’t Get There From Here: A Year on the Fringes of a Shrinking World, was produced after a yearlong trip with her husband around the world. Back at home, with a baby to take care of, she discovered the pleasure of traveling through imagined stories. Forman had targeted an audience to be between the ages of 12 and 20. Published in 2007, Sisters in Sanity was her first young-adult novel.
Gayle Forman official website: click here
Interview with the author: click here
Literary awards
Review
Publishers Weekly
"The last normal moment that Mia, a talented cellist, can remember is being in the car with her family. Then she is standing outside her body beside their mangled Buick and her parents' corpses, watching herself and her little brother being tended by paramedics. As she ponders her state ("Am I dead?I actually have to ask myself this"), Mia is whisked away to a hospital, where, her body in a coma, she reflects on the past and tries to decide whether to fight to live. Via Mia's thoughts and flashbacks, Forman (Sisters in Sanity) expertly explores the teenager's life, her passion for classical music and her strong relationships with her family, friends and boyfriend, Adam. Mia's singular perspective (which will recall Alice Sebold's adult novel, The Lovely Bones) also allows for powerful portraits of her friends and family as they cope: "Please don't die. If you die, there's going to be one of those cheesy Princess Diana memorials at school," prays Mia's friend Kim. "I know you'd hate that kind of thing." Intensely moving, the novel will force readers to take stock of their lives and the people and things that make them worth living. Ages 14-up. (Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved."
Activity
In groups, students discuss Mia’s decision. They will come up with their decision as a group and justify their reasoning. The decision needs to be unanimous, so group members need to be persuasive in their points of view.
In groups, students discuss Mia’s decision. They will come up with their decision as a group and justify their reasoning. The decision needs to be unanimous, so group members need to be persuasive in their points of view.
No comments:
Post a Comment