Book Review: If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman
Good Morning! Here is the Monday Morning Blog! With the additional downtime the stay at home orders and my furlough have given me, I was able to read both of the books in Gayle Forman’s young adult If I Stay series. I don’t know if I have ever read an entire series of books back to back, but I am glad I read these books that way. Her characters were very engaging so I had to find out what happened in their story. Since I was in marching and concert band in middle school and high school, I enjoyed the focus on music and what it meant to the story.
Selma’s Book Review
Book Titles If I Stay and Where She Went
Author Gayle Forman
Type of Books Young Adult Fiction
Background Gayle Forman began her writing career writing articles for Seventeen magazine about young people and social concerns. If I stay and Where She Went are the two books in If I Stay series written by Forman. If I Stay was published in 2009 and Where She Went was published in 2010. She was inspired by an actual accident that killed an entire family. She asked herself what would happen if one survived, and that is the basis of the story. One of the main characters, Mia Hall, is a cellist. As she wrote her novel, she was inspired by the life and work of world-renowned cellist, Yo-Yo Ma, and makes him Mia’s musical idol.
Summary of the books If I Stay is the first book in the series. In the story, Mia and Adam Wilde meet at school and start dating. They are both involved in music programs, which becomes their common bond. One day when Mia’s family decides to go for a family drive on an unplanned snow day from school, her family is involved in an automobile accident which kills her mom, dad and eight-year-old brother. It leaves her in grave condition and battling for her life. Throughout the rest of the story, we are in Mia’s head as she decides whether she will stay (live) or go (die). We find out at the end, which way she decides.
The second book in the series is Where She Went. The story starts up three years later and is told from Adam Wilde’s point of view. We find out what both characters have been up to since the end of If I Stay and what happens to make them cross paths in New York City.
Reaction to the books I really enjoyed reading both books. I had a hard time putting either one of them down. I am glad I was able to read both books in one sitting (which wound up being about a week). It gave me a really neat experience to read their whole story. Forman presents characters who are easy to relate to and engage with. I also like how she had a different character tell the story from their point of view in each of the two books. I would definitely recommend the books for a young adult reader or one who enjoys young adult novels.
Link to Yo-Yo Ma As I was writing this review, I was interested in the fact that Gayle Forman was inspired by Yo-Yo Ma and used his persona as Mia’s idol. As I was sitting down to start writing this review, I came across Yo-Yo Ma‘s Facebook page and am now following it. I did a search on You Tube and came across a PBS News Hour interview that Yo-Yo Ma recently did about a program he started called Songs of Comfort. Here’s a link to that interview Songs of Comfort PBS News Hour (3/18/20)
He says music is for everyone. Finding the needs in others and representing them has become his voice amid our current global crisis. Follow his hash tag #SongsofComfort
Link to the author If you want to learn more about Gayle Forman, here is a link to her website Gayle Forman
Links to the books If you want to purchase either one of these books, here is a link to Amazon. If I Stay and Where She Went
They also sell this series as a set, which is available on Amazon as well. If I Stay and Where She Went book set
How did the week go for you? For me, being on furlough meant I could watch a couple of webinars, read a few more books and work on the writing side of my life. It also allowed me to be able to pause and let some of the stress roll off of me from the crazy stressful lifestyle I was leading before. You don’t realize how crazy things are until you take a break from it, either voluntarily or through something like a furlough. Yo-Yo Ma was able to find a new voice for his music through this pause. Are you finding something changing for you? Or, has this pause helped you find a new habit? Please let me know in the comments below.
Have a great week!
#amreading #WhereSheWent #YALit #SongsofComfort #BookReviews #GayleForman #IfIStay #YoungAdult #YoyoMa