I mean this with all my heart…It is my pleasure to share this book with you…NEVER EIGHTEEN by Megan Bostic.
Seventeen-year-old Austin Parker wants to help the people he loves live—even though his own future is uncertain.
Austin Parker is never going to see his eighteenth birthday. At the rate he’s going, he probably won’t even see the end of the year. But in the short time he has left there’s one thing he can do: He can try to help the people he loves live—even though he never will.
This was the very last book I read in 2011 and it seems to me that it was supposed to be that way. My dad passed away in 2005 during the early morning hours of New Year’s Day. Today it is New Year’s Eve–seven years later. I’m not sure you ever get over losing a parent or a child, but the way that I’ve tried to make sense of my personally horrific loss, has been to make my life matter. In honor of my father, I’ve chosen to live with courage and hope. The truth is that I would not be a debut author if my father died. So bitter sweet.
As I’m writing this review, I’m terrified that I won’t be able to do it justice, that I’ll be unable to express just how much it moved me. This book is beautiful. It speaks softly, but resonates deeply. It has everything that a real life has…love, shame, mistakes, friendship, hate, hope, loss, fear, regret, laughter and belief. It has the belief that it is never too late to want more from your life–even when life is short.
I found a connection with every single character in this book–saw myself in bits and pieces of every human interaction, but I loved Kaylee and Austin. They will haunt me–I’ll think about them often. This is one of those books that doesn’t feel like a story. It feels like it was real. I know them now and they are a part of me and I’m better for having had them in my life.
Megan Bostic is my fellow debut author at the Class of 2k12 and the Apocalypsies, but I urge you to champion this book. My love and admiration for it have nothing to do with my connection to her. This is a book that matters. This is a book that I believe in.
I would be extremely grateful if, when you read this book, you’ll stop by and share your thoughts on it with me.
Subscribe via Email
