The Truth about Forever by Sarah Dessen
Who would like this book? Teens (especially girls) who like stories about real-life problems and solutions that involve friendships, family problems, and romance.
Why? As The Truth about Forever opens, Macy Queen is 17 and trying to be perfect. Perfect daughter to her mother, perfect girlfriend to her unemotional brainy boyfriend, perfect student, and perfect at her new job at the library. She and her mother are always “fine, just fine.” The perfect show is a thin veneer, though, covering her grief over her dad’s death in the year. Then she meets “Wish,” a zany extended family who run a catering business, as they cater an event for her mother. Macy can’t resist their honesty and starts to work with them, a job that opens up a growing friendship with Wes, a smashingly handsome member of the “Wish” crew (”Sa-wooon!”). Great characters and great dialog fill the plot. My dad died when I was young (and my sons’ dad died when they were young), and I found so much truth and wisdom related to how families grieve in this book that I wished that I could have read it when I was thirteen. It would have changed my life!