Things I Can't Forget

Title:

Things I Can't Forget

Author:

Kenneally, Miranda

Subject:

Romance

Young Adult Literature

Young Adult Fiction

Description:

"A must read...I couldn't put it down." —Simone Elkeles on Catching JordanFrom the bestselling author of Catching Jordan comes a new teen romance sure to appeal to fans of Sarah Dessen.SOME RULES WERE MEANT TO BE BROKEN.Kate has always been the good girl. Too good, according to some people at school—although they have no idea the guilty secret she carries. But this summer, everything is different...This summer she's a counselor at Cumberland Creek summer camp, and she wants to put the past behind her. This summer Matt is back as a counselor too. He's the first guy she ever kissed, and he's gone from geeky songwriter who loved The Hardy Boys to a buff lifeguard who loves to flirt...with her.Kate used to think the world was black and white, right and wrong. Turns out, life isn't that easy...Praise for Miranda Keaneally:"Fresh, fearless, and totally romantic."—Sarah Ockler, bestselling author of the Twenty Boy Summer"Catching Jordan is the romantic comedy I've been waiting for. I loved it!"—Jennifer Echols, author of Such a Rush"An incredibly well-written, beautiful story that balances romance, drama, and comedy perfectly."—Bookish, on Stealing Parker

Publisher:

Sourcebooks

Sourcebooks Fire

Date:

2013/03/05

Digital Format:

HTML

ADOBE EPUB

KINDLE

Language:

English

Summary

"A must read...I couldn't put it down." --Simone Elkeles on Catching Jordan

From the bestselling author of Catching Jordan comes a new teen romance sure to appeal to fans of Sarah Dessen.

SOME RULES WERE MEANT TO BE BROKEN.

Kate has always been the good girl. Too good, according to some people at school--although they have no idea the guilty secret she carries. But this summer, everything is different...

This summer she's a counselor at Cumberland Creek summer camp, and she wants to put the past behind her. This summer Matt is back as a counselor too. He's the first guy she ever kissed, and he's gone from geeky songwriter who loved The Hardy Boys to a buff lifeguard who loves to flirt...with her.

Kate used to think the world was black and white, right and wrong. Turns out, life isn't that easy...

Praise for Miranda Keaneally:

"Fresh, fearless, and totally romantic."--Sarah Ockler, bestselling author of the Twenty Boy Summer

"Catching Jordan is the romantic comedy I've been waiting for. I loved it!"--Jennifer Echols, author of Such a Rush

"An incredibly well-written, beautiful story that balances romance, drama, and comedy perfectly."--Bookish, on Stealing Parker

Author Notes

Miranda Kenneally is an American author, who grew up in a small town in Tennessee. She enjoys writing young adult literature. She is best known for her young adult fiction series Hundred Oaks which includes, Catching Jordan, Stealing Parker, Things I Can't Forget, Racing Savannah, Breathe, Annie, Breathe, Jesse's Girl, Defending Taylor, and Coming Up for Air. She is the author of a nonfiction book for young adults entitled, Dear Teen Me: Authors Write Letters to Their Teen Selves.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (3)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 9 Up-Though devoutly religious, Kate recently compromised her deeply held beliefs to help her best friend, Emily, obtain an abortion-a decision that has strained the girls' friendship and sent Kate reeling. When the teen becomes a camp counselor the summer before starting college, she questions her identity even further. Romance blossoms between Kate and a fellow counselor, Matt, and she befriends Parker, a girl whom Kate used to look down upon for her wild and promiscuous lifestyle. Subsequently, she begins to reevaluate her judgmental attitudes. Though it's primarily her relationships with others that result in Kate's growth from an uptight, narrow-minded wallflower to a self-assured young woman, characterization is sketchy, and characters are largely one-note (the gorgeous, confident love interest; her lost and confused best friend; her strict, unsympathetic boss). Still, Kenneally's spare, straightforward prose, combined with a heavy dose of romance, makes it an accessible novel that should appeal even to reluctant readers. Kate's habit of questions to herself as she encounters conflicts ("But what if I would rather have a relationship with God than friendships with people who don't believe in him like I do?") imbues her with an uncertainty that will resonate with teens. Adolescents will also relate to her simultaneous feelings of longing and guilt as she copes with her burgeoning sexuality. Despite the flaws, teenagers will find this coming-of-age story both entertaining and poignant.-Mahnaz Dar, Library Journal (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

Eighteen-year-old narrator Kate Kelly begins the summer after high school in a state of prolonged moral distress. Although firmly believing premarital sex and abortion to be sins, Kate nevertheless provides financial and practical help when her best friend chooses to end a pregnancy. Guilt plagues Kate, undermining the girls' friendship, and clouding her experience as a summer camp counselor, as she observes her peers' behavior through a lens of judgment and disapproval. A budding romantic interest awakens Kate's awareness of the power of sexual urges, while an unexpected friendship with a fellow churchgoer, whom she had shunned in a time of need, causes Kate to question the moral guidance of her church and examine the "Christian" nature of her own actions. Throughout the novel, Kenneally (Catching Jordan) uses a light touch, addressing teenage pregnancy, sexuality, and alcohol use without being pedantic. Wisdom from Kate's father, "Your truth isn't everybody else's truth," provides unanticipated guidance in this compassionate and nuanced exploration of friendship, love, and maturing religious understanding. Ages 13-up. Agent: Sara Megibow, Nelson Literary Agency. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

A struggle for self-identity forms the core of this crowded novel, the latest entry in Kenneally's Hundred Oaks series. Kate is spending her summer working as a counselor at a church-run camp. She's still reeling from her decision to help her best friend Emily get an abortion and hopes that in the mountains of Tennessee, she will get a sign that God forgives her. With a camp director who singles her out unfairly, counselors who don't act very Christian in Kate's judgmental opinion and the end of her friendship with Emily, there's only one thing that's going right: Kate's blossoming relationship with Matt, the boy who gave Kate her first kiss years ago at camp. Matt is charming, sweet and clearly crazy about her. But the way Matt makes Kate feel contradicts everything she's learned in church. If Kate wants to have friends and love, she'll have to decide what she believes. Kate's sheltered worldview is well-drawn, and the hesitant first steps on her spiritual journey are handled sensitively. There are more characters than necessary, especially with characters from Kenneally's other books making appearances, as well as too many issues, such as abortion, parental abuse and gay relationships, giving the story a kitchen-sink feel. That said, Kate's growth will keep readers, Christian or otherwise, reading. (Fiction. 14 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Excerpts

sketch #323
what happened on april 6

Girls like me do not buy pregnancy tests.

I drag my pencil down the paper, drawing tears rolling from her eyes.

Girls like me sing in the church choir. Every spring break, I go on mission trips to Honduras, where we renovate houses for the underprivileged. I do all my homework every night, and before I go to bed, I kiss Daddy's cheek and tell him I wish he'd go to the doctor about his blood pressure and start getting more exercise than walking Fritz and scooping his poop.

I've only kissed one boy my entire life.

Emily called that day, crying. "Kate," she said between sobs. "You can't tell anyone. Not even your mom."

I drove to Walmart two towns away, over in Green Hills, so no one would see me buying the test. I trembled as I carried the box to the self-checkout lane. I scanned, bagged, and paid, and bit back tears, because my best friend of fifteen years-since we were three years old-might have accidentally gotten pregnant by her long-time boyfriend.

I didn't even know they had had sex. It's not something they would tell. If anyone found out that Jacob, son of Brother Michael-our preacher at church-got a girl pregnant out of wedlock? Chaos.

It wouldn't look good for Emily either. She's like me. Always wears clean T-shirts and none of her jeans have holes or loose strings. She would never even think about smoking a cigarette. She doesn't go over the speed limit. She plays the violin and has a scholarship lined up to attend Belmont University in Nashville.

But Emily made a mistake.

I use my black coloring pencil to shade her hair. My red pencil fills in her lips, turned upside down in a frown.

And then I made an even bigger mistake: I helped her.

Excerpted from Things I Can't Forget by Miranda Kenneally All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.