Title: Say What You Will
Author: Cammie McGovern
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publishing Date: June 3rd 2014
Length: 352 pages
Keywords: YA, contemporary, friendship, love, cerebral palsy, OCD
Source: Publisher
Summary by Goodreads
Author: Cammie McGovern
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publishing Date: June 3rd 2014
Length: 352 pages
Keywords: YA, contemporary, friendship, love, cerebral palsy, OCD
Source: Publisher
Born with cerebral
palsy, Amy can't walk without a walker, talk without a voice box, or
even fully control her facial expressions. Plagued by
obsessive-compulsive disorder, Matthew is consumed with repeated
thoughts, neurotic rituals, and crippling fear. Both in desperate need
of someone to help them reach out to the world, Amy and Matthew are more
alike than either ever realized.
When Amy decides to hire student aides to help her in her senior year at Coral Hills High School, these two teens are thrust into each other's lives. As they begin to spend time with each other, what started as a blossoming friendship eventually grows into something neither expected.
When Amy decides to hire student aides to help her in her senior year at Coral Hills High School, these two teens are thrust into each other's lives. As they begin to spend time with each other, what started as a blossoming friendship eventually grows into something neither expected.
Summary by Goodreads
Amy and
Matthew both have their issues to deal with. Amy was born with cerebral palsy
and Matthew's days are defined by his obsessive-compulsive disorder. They both
tell you about their school and home lives, and their blossoming relationship
from their own perspectives. These alternating chapters were definitely
important to the story because what shapes their relationship and determines
their actions and feelings is made up of very complex processes. You learn what
it means to have OCD or cerebral palsy, the varying levels of them, how they
can develop and ways of therapy.
Matthew
comes into Amy's life in form of a student aide. I wasn't even familiar with
that concept before I read SAY WHAT YOU WILL. I learned a lot reading Amy and
Matthew's story and it sure helped me to think myself in the position of
students who are affected by anything like our two main characters.
SAY WHAT
YOU WILL kicked off with a very strong first half in which I was absolutely
invested in Amy and Matthew's stories. Then something happened that threw me
and the characters completely off course and after that I didn't really get
into the original mood of the story again. I can't say anything about the
events that led to a turn in the story and practically put a buffer on all my
cheering for Amy and Matthew's love story. Not sure how other readers dealt
with the last part of the book, but I'm sure not everyone sees what's happening
as critical to the story as I do.
Cammie
McGovern's first YA novel is set in high school. It's Amy and Matthew's senior
year. And SAY WHAT YOU WILL is about all the usual stuff that is high school, but it's also about the things that are different for our two characters and why. There are even
chapters on Amy and Matthew's lives after high school. In general I really like
when the end of high school isn't the end of the story.
Amy and
Matthew. Friendship and love. Their lives are made up of clear boundaries.
Things people think they can't do or even things their illness keeps them from
doing. And now when it comes to two of the most important emotional investments
in life, the boundaries that have been ever-present in their lives before are
blurring. Considering Cammie's writing technique and her easing the reader
slowly, first into Amy and Matthew's friendship, and then into their possible
love scenario, SAY WHAT YOU WILL is an amazing read.
3/5 *** SAY WHAT YOU WILL - Messy, enabling and
very beautiful in parts!
This could
be one of the most real and inspiring stories you are ever going to read. Amy
and Matthew's love story is unpredictable in many ways, some you'll like,
others may be somewhat infuriating. One thing is clear though, this story is
one very challenged love story in many aspects. It will draw out your emotions
and may as well steal your heart.
"Everything changed for Amy after that conversation with Matthew.For most of her school life, Amy had felt a little like Rapunzel, locked in the tower her walker created when she walked down hallways. In eleven years, no one had ever called up to her window or asked for her hair. No one had ever tried to be her friend.Impossible, you might say. Everyone has some friends.No, Amy would have to say. Not everyone." ― p. 21
SAY WHAT YOU WILL you might enjoy WONDER by R.J. Palacio. You'll love this Middle Grade story about brave Auggie who was born with a facial deformity. FIVE FLAVORS OF DUMB by Antony John tells the story of deaf Piper who has to manage a rock band. And GIRL, STOLEN by April Henry is about the kidnapping of the blind Cheyenne. These books have protagonists who are challenged in some way, and I'm sure you'll enjoy all of them.
* How do you like the UK cover for Amy & Matthew's story?
* Want to meet Cammie McGovern? Check out her event schedule.
* For more information about Cammie and her books visit www.cammiemcgovern.com.
* Thanks to Harper Collins International for the ARC of SAY WHAT YOU WILL!