Features
- Cover Type: Hard Cover with 384 pages
- Published by: Viking Juvenile May 11, 2004
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0670036390
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0670036394
-
Book Dimensions:
8.4 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
- Weighs: 1 pounds
Product Review
With her sixth novel, award-winning author
Sarah Dessen offers up another generous helping of finely crafted storytelling about real teens dealing with real life. In
The Truth About Forever, when asked how she is coping with her father's death, invariably seventeen year old Macy Queen's answer is "fine," when nothing could be further from the truth. In actuality, she is drowning in grief while maintaining a flawless façade of good grades and unblemished behavior. Though she feels lost when her boyfriend heads to "Brain Camp" for the summer, she finds herself a job with the quirky Wish Catering crew, and meets "sa-woon"-worthy Wes, whose chaotic lifestyle is in direct opposition to her own. As the two share their stories over the summer, Macy realizes she can no longer keep her feelings on ice. Though it feels like her future endedwith her dad's death, Macy's learns that forever is all about beginnings. Dessen charts Macy's navigation of grief in such an honest way it will touch every reader who meets her. All of the Dessen trademarks are here: a girl in transition, a wonderfully fleshed out cast of secondary characters, and of course, the luminous, powerful writing itself.
The Truth About Forever will more than satisfy Dessen's legion of fans, and will win her countless more as well. Highly recommended. (Ages 12 and up)
--Jennifer Hubert
From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up–Macy, 16, witnessed her father's death, but has never figured out how to mourn. Instead, she stays in control–good grades, perfect boyfriend, always neat and tidy–and tries to fake her way to normal. Then she gets a job at Wish Catering. It is run by pregnant, forgetful Delia and staffed by her nephews, Bert and Wes, and her neighbors Kristy and Monica. "Wish" was named for Delia's late sister, the boys' mother. Working and eventually hanging out with her new friends, Macy sees what it's like to live an unprescripted lifestyle, from dealing with kitchen fires to sneaking out at night, and slowly realizes it's not so terrible to be human. Wes and Macy play an ongoing game of Truth and share everything from gross-outs to what it feels like to watch someone you love die. They fall in love by talking, and the author sculpts them to full dimension this way. All of Dessen's characters, from Macy, who narrates to the bone, to Kristy, whose every word has life and attitude, to Monica, who says almost nothing but oozes nuance, are fully and gorgeously drawn. Their dialogue is natural and believable, and their care for one another is palpable. The prose is fueled with humor–the descriptions of Macy's dad's home-shopping addiction are priceless, as is the goofy bedlam of catering gigs gone bad–and as many good comedians do, Dessen uses it to throw light onto darker subjects. Grief, fear, and love set the novel's pace, and Macy's crescendo from time-bomb perfection to fallible, emotional humanity is, for the right readers, as gripping as any action adventure.
–Johanna Lewis, New York Public Library Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Reader Reviews
As a long time Dessen fan, I was eagerly awaiting this book, but held off reading it until recently, because I am always disappointed when I run out of Dessen books to read. I must say, this was WELL worth the wait, perhaps my favorite book of hers yet. This story is much deeper than any of her previous novels, but not overly dramatic to the point that it's too heavy to enjoy. The characters are fun, lovable, exciting, and unique making the story even better. Any young woman will be able to relate to Macy as she deals with the loss of her father, rejection from her boyfriend, and new friendships from a group of unlikely people. I fell in love with the story and the characters. She performed the magic that most writer's aren't able to accomplish: She took a simple plot and filled it with complex characters to live out the story. I was sad when it ended, but it's definitely one of those books you can read again. Very highly recommended.
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