What about "If I Stay" by Gayle Foreman? I just realized that all of the books read and taught in 8th grade are very boy centered. There are reasons behind that but I'd like to read a book beyond Twlight that has strong female voice. I heard this is similar to "Lovely Bones" which I loved. There is a review below.
Starred Review. 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.)
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Seems like the whole life after death thing has been quite popular lately; "Elsewhere" by Gabrielle Zevin explores a similar topic - a teenage girl narrating her story from beyond the grave. I just read it this week and enjoyed it very much. There was also an Albert Brooks/Meryl Streep movie in the early nineties called "Defending Your Life"; and of course now, we have "The Lovely Bones" book as well as the film adaptation. Getting back to "If I Stay" - I would definitely be game for it. The meditations on the meaning of life could be very profound among the 13 year old set...
Elina,
I'm jealous of all your reading. How are you keeping up? I'm such a nerd. My wedding gift was a signed first edition of Lovely Bones. It's so interesting because in revisiting it I feel very differently about the novel. That's what I love about literature. It always resonates in differently depending on the readers state of mind.
My intermediate lit class is a good excuse to read as much as I like - all in the name of homework. :-) I so get what you are saying about the different effects of literature upon revisiting - I have also found that some pieces that I reread have a profoundly different effect on me now than they did earlier. "Ender's Game" is a good example. Reading it as a mother, I found it incredibly disturbing - something that did not occur to me when I read it the first time some twenty years ago...
I haven't read "If I Stay", but I couldn't put down "The Lovely Bones" when I finally got a chance to read it this last summer. (I know I'm a little behind reading books when they are actually ON the best sellers list). I haven't read any of the other recommended books. A girl female voice sounds like good idea.
I think I finally figured out how to write comments to the website - I'm so pumped!
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