How To Save A Life by Sara Zarr

How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I so enjoy Sara Zarr and with this book, she shines! Told in alternating chapters by Jill and Mandy; the reader learns that Jill is still having trouble coping a year after her father's sudden death in a car accident. Always so close to him, Jill doesn't know how to express her sorrow and grief,so she becomes sullen and mean pushing her friends, boyfriend, and mother away. Enter Mandy, who is a pregnant 19 year old who has met Jill's mother, Robin, in an open adoption internet ad. Jill is so opposed to her mother's idea of adopting a baby that she hires a guy (she knew from high school) who works as an investigator for the book store where she works. Jill wants to find out everything she can about this Mandy to discredit her and send her packing. But that is not what happens. As we learn more and more about Mandy's life before she came to live with Jill and her mom, we realize Mandy was very smart and needed to run from her horror of a life. We learn about her one night stand with an Indian she met at a carnival and her mother's boyfriend, Ken, and his sexual abuse. As time moves ever closer and closer to the baby's delivery date, Mandy and Jill, connect and it is this connection that saves them both. I highly recommend this book, just a great feel good book.

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