OBS BOOK REVIEWS: GAYLE FORMAN ‘IF I STAY’

Written by OBS Staff Member Sophie Hutchings

“What if one day, you went out for a drive…
And in an instant everything changed?
What if suddenly all the other choices were gone?
Life or death…”

When 17-year-old Mia wakes up on a snowy morning, her family and herself plan to take a drive to visit their family and friends. Mia being a passionate cellist – who is waiting to gain her acceptance to go to Julliard – is still not sure if she should go see her rock star hunk of a boyfriend Adam and his band perform that evening.

While battling out which music station they should listen to on their journey, their family car is flattened but the radio continues to play Beethoven. At first Mia is sure everything is fine, after all she is standing outside the vehicle but then she sees her father. He is dead. Next, she finds her mother, who is also dead. Now Mia is desperate to find her little brother but something catches her eye, a hand! Was it Teddy? Her little brother, but how did her silver charm bracelet that Adam got her for her birthday gets on his wrist? She realizes she is looking at her own bleeding body.

Mia finds herself lying in a coma in an ICU bed at deaths door. With many visits from her Grandparents, her best friend – Kim, family, her boyfriend – who she is deeply in love with and even a rock star! Mia is the only one with the power to decide if she wants to live or join her family in heaven. Time is ticking but which will she chose?

This book really shows you the power of family and friends and the ultimate choice Mia commands. It really opens your eyes to what you have and what you can lose just like that! Summit Entertainment now even has the rights to ‘If I Stay’ for the movie.