The Truth About Forever

Title: The Truth About Forever

Author: Sarah Dessen

Target Age Group: High School/Young Adult

My Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary: Macy plans out her "perfect" summer, filling in for her "perfect" boyfriend at the library while he's away at Brain Camp for the summer. She spends her days working at the library with girls who don't like her, and then spends her evenings ironing, studying from her SAT book, and other mundane tasks. Until one day she starts working for Delia and her catering business, where she meets Kristy, Monica, Wes, and Bert. They are totally unlike her in so many ways, but somehow the chaos is exactly what she needs. Throughout her summer, Macy deals with the grief she still holds onto about her father's death a year and a half previously, she struggles to figure out what she wants with her life-to be "perfect" or to be "good-enough-as-she-is". She finds beauty in places and experiences she never would have allowed herself to even imagine before. It's a huge learning experience, but I won't spoil it. :)

Review: Let me start by saying this-a friend of mine recommended this book to me. I am glad she did. I really enjoyed it. However, the reason I ended up reading it now is because it was in my school library (that I am now in charge of). In NO way, shape, or form should this book be in the library at a K-8 Catholic school. Needless to say, I will be removing it from the shelf and catalog system. I cannot believe it's been on the shelf for more than 3 years! Ugh. Anyway, it is a wonderful book. It was EXACTLY what I needed right now, and it's funny how Macy is confronted with all sorts of things that are unexpected that help her grow, when this book was totally unexpected for me! It's full of raw emotion, openness, and learning to be truthful in every way. It deals with so many different relationship types: mother-daughter, sisters, friends, girlfriend-boyfriend, girl-boy who are not sure what they are, etc. It's just a good read. Now, I will tell you...there are some drug and alcohol references and language (my reasons for not allowing it to stay on the library shelf). For those who aren't comfortable with language, don't read it. There are multiple swear words used, and for your sake I will give only the first letter, even though I feel ridiculous doing so. The s-word, the d-word, and the f-word are each used multiple times. I'd definitely recommend this to older high schoolers (if I thought they could handle the certain aspects...) and adults. Since those of you that read this are all adults, I'd definitely recommend it to you. :)