Just One Year ( 323 Pages)

In a follow-up to her book Just One Day,  Gale Forman focuses on Willem. This book is OK, but I don't think it has the "staying power" that One Day has. It certainly answers the question for readers as to just what happened to Willem in the first book. I was  not ready to write him off as a guy who had just taken a young girl for all he could get.....I will say that Forman has taken Willem's character forward by answering some questions about his background.

Where She Went (264 Pages)

For those of you who read Forman's If I Stay, might enjoy this next book. This takes Adam and Mia 3 years post accident. He's still on the West Coast with a new girl friend, and she is  still in New York. Both music careers have grown to the point that they are on tours. One night, when Adam is in New York, he happens by Carnegie. And who do you think just happens to be performing? You guessed it- Mia! What happens after this is they balance to this new love- love lost- love rekindled! NICE....

The Beginning of Everything (335 Pages)

Robyn Schneider has written a book that is very contemporary and will hit home with many high schoolers.  Ezra Faulkner had it all: the Captain of the tennis team, President of the Student Government and he was destined to be the homecoming king for his school, but his girlfriend  was a jerk and was cheating on him- which he discovered when he walked in on them at a party. As he rushed out of the party, he was hit by a black SUV, shattering his leg. None of the members of the tennis team visited him in the hospital, nor did his girlfriend. He was self-conscious of his limp and his dependency using a cane. But he returned to his high school and it was then he met Cassidy Thorpe. Cassidy was stunning. Her blue, blue eyes and her auburn hair set her apart from the rest of the girls. AND, she was brilliant. Ezra and Cassidy become "a couple" and join the debate team of which  Ezra's oldest friend is captain. Ezra can't believe that Cassidy falls for him, but she does, and then all of a sudden, she drops him, she leaves school, with no words for Ezra as to why. And then Ezra finds out why. This turn in the book brings everything together.

Just One Day (369 Pages)

Gayle Forman has written another book with memorable characters. Her book, If I Stay, has been made into a movie, and I wouldn't be surprised if this book also became a movie. Allyson Healy is on a summer tour arranged by her mother. Her mother arranges everything in Allyson's life, and this is one of the conflicts in this book, but it is a conflict that Allyson successfully deals with. This is a gift from her mom and dad who arrange it with her best friend's parents so that Allyson has company! Melanie and Allyson have done everything together since kindergarten, but as this book progresses into their freshman year in college, they begin to drift apart- physically and as friends. Conflict # 2.
While in England, Allyson meets Willem, Willem is a free spirited young man and he invites her to forsake her plans and come with him to Paris- for Just One Day! The plot takes us to college with her as she struggles with her academics- for the first time in her life. What is going on with this straight A student? She is exhausted all of the time, she can't get along with her roommates, she lives college life as a hermit. This book is a coming of age book and includes love, loss, the role accidents can have in one's life, and how fate can matter to all of us. It's a winner!