The Last Song

Title- The Last Song

Author- Nicholas Sparks

ISBN -0446570966

Publication Information- Grand Central Publishing

 

Plot Summary- Rebellious 17 year old Ronnie and her brother Jonah are sent to their father's house in North Carolina for the summer. She is unhappy to be there because she blames him for her parent's divorce. There she meets Will and Galadriel. Ronnie and will spend more time together and fall in love. She discovers that her father has cancer. She is forced to come to terms with her feelings for him and his unconditional love for her. She withdraws from her friends and from Will as her father's illness progresses. After his death she returns home to her mother and attends Julliard. Surprisingly, Will calls her to tell her that he has transferred from Vanderbilt to Columbia in order to be closer to her.

Critical Evaluation- Nicholas Sparks novels are incredibly popular with the girls at my school. His stories are often tear-jerkers, but they also delve into various relationships and what love means at various levels and various times. What is noticeable is the character development of Ronnie. She starts as a rebellious and unseeing brat and develops into a kind, caring human being. However, the plotline of the story is contrived and somewhat unbelievable from the nature of divorced parents to the general reality of teenagers. It also seems highly unlikely that a young man would give up Vanderbilt for a girl he has only known for a few months, but that is what makes this novel such a hit with the girls.

 

Reader's Annotation- Veronica "Ronnie" Miller is a very angry young lady, but her emotions will be put to the test by her father and the love of her life.

Author Information- Nicholas Sparks has written 16 novels to date. He was discovered when his novel, The Notebook, was selected out of the slush pile by an agent. His life has been touched by more than his fair share of tragedy with the untimely death of his mother, a sister with cancer, an autistic diagnosis in his child (which turned out to be inaccurate), and the early death of his father. That he maintains a positive attitude and continues to help other people by providing scholarships to students is simply amazing.

Curricular Ties- none

Genre- Romance, Coming of Age

Book talking ideas- How does Ronnie grow throughout the story? How realistic is the ending?

Challenge issues- none

1. Re-read the text to familiarize myself with the story
   
2. Ask parents for their specific objections (they are required to file that with our school district)
   
3. Review approved books list from California Department of Education for similar materials
   
4. Review approaches from ALA
   

Interest Age- 15-18

Why I selected this piece-.I chose this because lots of my girls live for these novels. Frankly, I can't stand them, but they are popular to say the very least.