A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
Rating: **** Suggested Age: 13
Summary: “Every April, when the wind blows from the sea and mingles with the scent of lilacs, Landon Carter remembers his last year at Beaufort High. It was 1958, and Landon had already dated a girl or two. He even swore that he had once been in love. Certainly the last person in town he thought he’d fall for was Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town’s Baptist minister. A quiet girl who always carried a Bible with her schoolbooks, Jamie seemed content living in a world apart from the other teens. She took care of her widowed father, rescued hurt animals, and helped out at the local orphanage. No boy had ever asked her out. Landon would never have dreamed of it. Then a twist of fate made Jamie his partner for the homecoming dance, and Landon Carter’s life would never be the same. Being with Jamie would show him the depths of the human heart and lead him to a decision so stunning it would send him irrevocably on the road to manhood…” (Summary found on Goodreads).
A Walk to Remember is not a long book or a particularly complex book. However, it is a book that will touch you beyond belief. Most people will cry and I’m saddened to say that I didn’t. Though, I’m generally not one to cry that often when I read. I found the characters to be well done. I loved Jamie and while Landon was difficult to appreciate in the beginning, I gradually grew to like him too.
The only issue I had with this book was the writing style. I have always hated books that are written as though the main character is telling a story. It’s so annoying. Not to mention, the author dumbs down the writing in attempt to make it sound more like something the character would say. I do believe, after finishing it, that there was a reason Nicholas Sparks wrote it this way. I still don’t like it, but I understand why, at least.
I definitely recommend this book, but just make sure to have tissues nearby.
-Book Hugger
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