Synaesthesia Magazine Winter | Page 33

If I Stay

Gayle Forman

Publisher: Doubleday Children's Books

Published: 2009

Review by: Annabelle Carvell

I’m not shy to admit my love for teenage fiction, with its constant exploration of boundary blurring characters, raw emotion and liminal spaces. Peeking at the ‘teen fiction’ category (once known more flatteringly as ‘Young Adult’) is something mandatory in every bookshop visit. Gayle Forman’s If I Stay ended up in my hand, (consequently, a justifiable £6.99 left my pocket), and so begun one of those reads, clichéd though it might sound, where putting the book down was not an option.

‘Everyone thinks it was because of the snow. And in a way, I suppose that’s true.’

Forman’s novel presents the dormant Mia, our central character, lying in a coma in a hospital somewhere between life and death. Despite being static, Mia moves us around her memories in her mind’s eye, leading the reader into the history of her life. We follow her journey, learning of the people she meets and the choices she has made, including the moment that a snowy winter’s morning seizes them all from her.

All the while, Forman is piecing together strings of events that may provide Mia

with an answer to her profoundly harrowing and lonely decision – does she stay or does she leave?

I challenge any reader to not be moved by this tender story of an average teenage girl, and the weighty choice that no adult would envy. With beautifully honest prose, If I Stay is a tale that transcends ‘teen fiction’ and finds itself lodged behind the ribcage of every reader.

(Bestselling If I Stay now has a follow up novel, Where She Went, which I shall be saving my pennies for!)

For those who love: Sarah Dessen, John Green, Michael Lawrence

I can’t get enough of Jonathan Pinnock’s fiction, so when I heard there was going to be a whole book full of his stories, I couldn’t wait. I intended to savour Dot Dash (winner of The Scott Prize) slowly, reading a few stories a day. But oh, no. Every time I got to the end of a story I had to keep going. Just one more, just one more... I ended up reading the whole thing in less than 24 hours.

Dot Dash is jam-packed full of short (dashes) and very short stories (dots). These tales are quirky, funny or macabre (or a mixture of those). All are entertaining. A lot of them have won prizes individually, and the standard is very high.

My favourite story, 'The Birdman of Farringdon Road' shows us a lot about human nature. I was amazed that a story which includes the following quotation could be so thought-provoking:

Bleedin’ hippo fell on me. Damn nearly killed me. As it is, I’ll never work again, but I did acquire this ability.

Oh yes, the birdman does have an ability; the last paragraph was so clever that I read it several times, grinning.

'Return to Cairo,' about a girl who recreates Cairo in her grandmother’s room, packs an emotional punch as well as being humorous. It makes you think: What lengths would I go to for the ones I love? The ending is breathtakingly good.

One of the Dots, 'Less Than Deadly' is only two lines long, but it made me smile. Here it is in its entirety:

His attempt to commit all seven deadly sins in one week ended in failure. On reflection, it was probably a bad idea to start with sloth.

'The Amazing Arnolfini and His Wife,' about a tightrope-walking couple, is excellent, and it’s easy to imagine yourself at the scene. If you have a fear of heights, you may find yourself holding your breath as you read this one. This story was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.

'The Magnolia Bedroom' deserves a special mention, too, for its colourful main character, Bianca. The girl is likeable despite – or maybe because of – her obsession.

Another favourite Dot was 'Steaming,' which is short and perfectly-formed, like the best jokes:

Terry peered at the steaming heap of undifferentiated cells and sighed. “Teleport engineer’s arrived,” he announced.

With so many engaging characters throughout the book, and excellent pacing, you can’t help but keep reading. Within the pages, there’s a plague of yellow plastic ducks, an elephant in the living room, a scary job interview, and many more strange characters or situations. Out of 58 stories there was only one I didn’t like, which was 'Canine Mathematics,' simply because I’m not keen on canines (especially talking canines) or mathematics.

All the tales are thought-provoking and extremely well-written. Many of them show the author’s wicked sense of humour. Dot Dash is a flippin’ brilliant collection. No wonder it won a prize.

Find out more here

For those who love:

Adam Marek

33