"What Happened to Goodbye"

S- “What Happened to Goodbye” by Sarah Dessen is a touching book about a girls struggle to find her true personality throughout all the moving she is forced to do with her dad.  When entering a new school Mclean, the main character, chooses a persona she wishes to be during her short time in the town.  On Mclean and her fathers fourth move, Mclean decides she is going to try being herself and not make a persona to follow.  After a few weeks she begins to make some really close friends and even has a new love interest, the next door neighbor.  But not to her surprise her dad soon gets a new assignment in Hawaii and she attempts to cope with the thought of leaving her new found friends and boyfriend.  Her mother decides that it isn’t fair to make her move again and says she can live there with a friend for her senior year.  Throughout the book , Mclean finds her true personality and finally accepts that who she is is good enough.

O- This story takes place in the present day.  Many people are struggling to keep jobs and many businesses are going out of business because of the economy.  Since Mclean’s dad is a restaurant consultant, he tries to rebuild a restaurant in their new town but it soon has to be sold and once again they are forced to move.  During this time teenagers are trying to figure out who they are and what they want to do with their lives.  Mclean is facing this struggle in the story because she has to finally figure out who she is.

A- This story is written for teenagers.  It involves many aspects of a teenagers life.  It involves moving to new towns, making new friends, and even boyfriends.  A huge part of teenagers lives is finding out who they are and making decisions that will effect the rest of their life.

P- The purpose of this book is to show teenagers they aren’t alone in the daily struggles of a teenagers life and trying to grow up and become independent.  This book includes family issues, friend issues, and boy issues.  “What Happened to Goodbye” does an incredible job relating to the vast majority of teenagers.

S- This book was written in first person.  Writing a story in first person makes the story seem much more personal and making it easier to relate to.  Many different figurative devices were used throughout the book.  Dessen used many different styles of sentences to keep the text exciting and to avoid it getting boring. Using many different figurative devices keeps the book from getting repetitive and bland.

Tone- This book is written in first person with a very questioning tone.  Mclean questions many decisions made by herself and others.  She questions her life and her personality and who she truly is.

I would give this book a 4 out of 5 suitcases.  It was a good book but at times I wish there was more conflict to keep the book interesting.