Seventeen-year-old Gabe Hunter knows he has a purpose in life. He has always strived to be the “best of the best,” but lately nothing has gone his way. Gabe was devastated six months earlier when his half-brother Josh had a drunk driving accident that killed four members of a family and left a sixteen-year-old girl named Sophie an orphan. Josh went to prison and Gabe struggles to forgive him because how can he forgive the unforgivable? When Gabe reluctantly agrees to do math tutoring for his senior service project, he discovers that the girl he will be tutoring is also named Sophie. But in a town of eighty thousand people, what are the odds it will be the same person? Astronomical, Gabe figures.
Gabe soon discovers, though, that it is the same Sophie. A former National Merit Scholar finalist, Sophie had a severe brain injury in the accident. She has seizures, amnesia, and can barely read or write. When he meets her, Gabe realizes what his purpose in life must be—to help Sophie and make amends for his brother. His plan is to spend the rest of the school year tutoring Sophie, then say goodbye and go quietly off to college without ever telling her that his brother was the one who killed her family. What Gabe doesn’t count on is falling in love.
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Gabe just wants a normal senior year. But his brother, Josh, is in prison after drunkenly crashing his car and killing four people, leaving just the sixteen year old girl alive, and orphaned. How can Gabe possibly have a normal senior year when he is living the repercussions of his brother's mistakes, and can’t move on because he absolutely cannot forgive his brother?
By the time Gabe signs up for his senior service project, there aren’t many options left. He opts for a math tutoring position, and finds himself in a difficult situation. The girl he’s signed up to tutor is named Sophie, and suffers from amnesia and seizures after being involved in a car accident that killed her family. Sophie doesn’t remember anything from before the accident, but Gabe certainly does, and he is all too aware that he has placed himself directly in the middle of the mess his brother caused. And yet, Gabe can’t ask for a different service project - he has to try and help put things back together. His brother ruined Sophie’s life, and he has a chance to maybe help her, if only a little.
There is a very big message of forgiveness in this book. Gabe finds it very hard to even think about talking to Josh, he can’t understand how Josh could have been so reckless to cause the accident in the first time, let alone how he doesn’t seem to hold any remorse for what happened. Sophie doesn’t remember anything from before the accident, so she doesn’t remember the family she lost and has a disconnection from the accident, unlike Gabe. But as situations change, they both have to come to terms with what happened, and Gabe grows to realise that maybe forgiveness just takes a while to come around.
It seems almost inevitable that Gabe and Sophie’s relationship will evolve to more than friends. The progression is slow, and paced perfectly. Sophie doesn’t jump into anything because she is unsure how she feels, and Gabe is afraid of hurting her after she suffered so much at the hands of Josh. But secrets threaten to tear everything apart – Sophie doesn’t know that Gabe is Josh’s brother, and Gabe keeps the fact that he is tutoring Sophie a secret from everyone he knows. Secrets in relationships are also a big part of this book, and they never end well. It’s all the secrets that cause the wondering as to whether forgiveness is possible.
There are several characters in this book that I absolutely loved. Sophie and Gabe are obvious favourites, but also Jess, one of Gabe’s best friends, and Joe, Sophie’s seizure alert dog. I don’t think anyone could help but love Joe! I definitely related to Gabe’s obsessiveness over being the best he possibly can be. He strives for perfection and is never satisfied with second best. I think Gabe in particular came across as a very real character. He struggles with very real problems, and his reactions are depicted wonderfully.
There are a lot of real and difficult topics covered in this book. After the accident, Gabe swears off drinking for fear of doing the same, but plenty of his teenage friends don’t. Parties with heavy drinking, and drug use, are depicted, as well as Josh being in prison and struggling with alcoholism. There are some difficult decisions that have to be made with regards to an unplanned pregnancy, although I can’t talk about that too much for fear of giving away the story. The characters in this book are teenagers, barely adults, and yet they are all dealing with very adult problems, most of the time without the support of the adults around them. In addition to all of this, Sophie’s physical needs, such as a limp and her need for a seizure alert dog, are all intertwined with the story very realistically. Not everyone feels pity for her, or understands, but instead many make fun of her, and she struggles a lot. It is finding a friend in Gabe that allows Sophie to build confidence, and realise that she is strong enough to do what she wants.
This is a book that I read in any spare moment I had. I couldn’t leave the characters for too long without missing them, and I clung to every word. As the book neared the end, I did start to grow a little concerned that there would be a cliffhanger, or an unresolved ending that would be picked up in a second book, but that was not the case. Everything came together in a neat little bow and the ending was definitely one that I was satisfied with, although I’m not going to say any more about it! I did absolutely love reading this book, it is most certainly one that I will read again and again until I know the story inside and out. If you are a fan of YA romance, this book is a must!
Debbie Schrack has spent her professional life working with children and young adults. She has a B.S in Special Education from the University of Virginia, and an M.Ed. from George Mason University. Although the character Sophie in her debut novel SAVING SOPHIE is fictional, she is a composite of many of the struggling learners Debbie has taught over the years.
Debbie lives with her family in Fairfax, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. Debbie finds personal fulfillment in creating new things, whether it be a novel, a painting, or a batch of croissants. She loves animals, and horses are her special passion. When she’s not writing or horseback riding, Debbie is a sucker for musicals, enjoys visiting art galleries, and desperately wants to travel more. She also loves hanging out with her three children, who she will always consider her most amazing creations.
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