Accidents Happen: "Leaving Paradise" (a book review)

courtesy of turn-the-page.net

I love reading teen books despite the fact that I am not a teen. A lot of teen books in the realistic fiction section depict the frustration and the angst of dealing with events that happen out of one's expectations. But it also shows what it's like to pick yourself up; to make the best of the sour lemons life gives us.

Nowadays, a lot of the teen books sold at bookstores deal with supernatural romance and adventure rather than the angst of being misunderstood and all that yada yada we all know when we were teens (and some of you who are still teens).  It is one of the reasons why I go to the library to pick out books rather than to buy them.

And I love how in the library I always find some good gems, or maybe even diamonds in the "rough." I found this one you see here on the first shelf I stopped by.

Written in first person narrative by Simone Elkeles, this novel tells the story of Maggie Armstrong and Caleb Becker who are tied by an accident that changed both their lives.
Caleb ends up in jail and Maggie ends up going to physical therapy sessions for her left leg. Maggie hates Caleb for what he did to her and Caleb just wants to make things right. But the events that come after Caleb's early release sets them both on quite.a.ride.

I love the fact that the book doesn't start with an explanation of what happened; it starts with Caleb's release and how it affects people. Throughout the book, the pieces come together and things start to fit until the end when things go beyond the limits of both Maggie and Caleb. I think this is one of those stories you read with the blazing underlying message: "don't drink and drive" or "friends don't let friends drink and drive." This story is beyond corny in the making of the plot and doesn't show a perfect ending. Somethings that were said by the characters were cliche but not over the top. However, there were somethings that took me by surprise and others that didn't. I would definitely recommend this book if you are looking for something to lift you but not make you cry.

Til Next Blogpost,
Miss Bobo