Module 7: If I Stay

Book Summary:

This is a story about loosing everything, and making choices. It is about the love of family and the unfairness of the world. After a terrible accident Mia is left with the choice of leaving this world or staying. How do you make such a decision? If she goes she will never accomplish the goals she was working so hard to accomplish, she will never again see the boy she loves, or the friends she cares about, but if she stays will she ever get passed the tremendous loss of loosing her family? 

Book Citation:

Forman, Gayle. (2009). If I Stay. New York: Penguin Group.

Impressions: 

I read this book right after the sudden passing of my brother. My brothers situation was similar to Mia's in the sense that he was in a coma for a period of time. As I read it I wondered if that was what my brother was doing. IF he was ale to see all the people that were there to support him. If he heard the words that were being said about him. My brother didn't have the choice to stay, his body was not in a repairable condition. As I read I remember thinking "you better choose to live, you better choose to live because some people don't get that choice. The story makes you cry, it makes you smile, and it makes you appreciate the people in your life, especially your family.

Reviews:

From Publishers Weekly

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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Library Uses:

This book can be used to teach a variety of themes including losing someone, making choices, family, faith, love, and strength. This book can also be used to compare and contrast book and movie.