How To Save A Life

This post first published October 5, 2011.

Author: Sara Zarr
Published: October 18, 2011
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
263 pages (galley)
 
I don’t normally read YA books that deal with teen pregnancy. It’s not that I dislike that type of story or anything, it’s just not something I normally gravitate towards. However, many of my Goodreads acquaintances have given How To Save A Life great reviews, and being the curious sort, I decided I want to give this book a go as well (thanks NetGalley!)
How To Save A Life is a touching story. The characters feel like very real people. It is told from the perspective of two girls: Mandy is 18 and heavily pregnant with child, and Jill, who is a bit younger, and is living with her recently widowed mother, Robin.

Jill’s father died less than a year ago, and the family still hasn’t quite gotten over it. Jill’s mom, Robin, decides she wants to adopt a child, something she and Jill’s father have talked about before, but never got around to doing so. Robin finds Mandy online and the two agree that when Mandy’s child is born, she will give it to Robin. (And for those not too saavy on adoption practices (I mean, neither am I but …), it isn’t uncommon for, say, a teenager to give birth to a baby and give it away to adoptive parents. Though it is often done with a lawyer or social worker or something to make it official and legal (unlike in this book, but Mandy has a reason for not wanting any lawyers or social workers to get involved).

Jill is pretty skeptical of Mandy’s intentions. Mandy comes off as a bit socially awkward and is definitely hiding a lot of secrets. When Mandy comes to live with Jill and her mother in their large Victorian-style house for the last month of her pregnancy, Robin is so obsessed with Mandy and the baby that Jill feels as if she’s shunted off to the side. Mandy, on the other hand, feels like she’s in a whole new world. Coming from a single mom who loves her boyfriends more than her, Mandy experiences a loving family for the first time.

This is definitely a very character-driven story. It’s a story about life and love, essentially. I got to see the pregnancy/adoption situation from both sides: Mandy, who comes off as a bit strange and naive. However, she has a very sad back story and it becomes clear she is trying to do what’s best for not only her baby, but for herself, because her whole life, she has not really been allowed to think for herself. And now she’s pregnant, but how can she be a mother when she’s never been mothered herself?

I also understand the perspective from Jill’s perspective. Her mom is suddenly obsessed with the idea of adopting a baby and it sort of feels like she is trying to use the baby to fill the vacancy their father left, which Jill isn’t too happy about. Not to mention how suspicious Mandy comes off as — I’d probably think Mandy is just here to mooch money off of them as well, if I were in her shoes.
The story has a lot of heart in it, a lot of emotions. It’s funny how Mandy thinks Jill has everything she needs, whereas Jill thinks her life really sucks because her dad died, her mom doesn’t seem to pay that much attention and she fights with her boyfriend a lot. It’s one of those stories that leave you realizing, no matter how bad you think your life is, there is someone else who has a life worse than you. Mandy clearly has a worse life than Jill, but such little things in life make Mandy happy — like pancakes. Sometimes it’s the little things that count. You definitely take a part of the story away with you when you finish the book.

The writing was really great in this book. When writing books from multiple perspectives, in my experience, a lot of times authors have a difficult time giving each perspective a unique voice. Zarr, however, accomplishes the multiple perspectives masterfully. Mandy and Jill truly feel like different characters, and are very distinct from one another. The character development goes at a perfect pace. The story just feels so real, and it’s easy to sympathize with all the characters. With every character, I thought, “Yes, I understand where you are coming from” because I really felt for them. Even the minor characters.

This is a very sad book, but also a very hopeful book. I think anyone will enjoy this book; it’s certainly not a book that’s JUST for teenagers to read. Even if you are like me and don’t normally read books about teen pregnancies, I think you should make an exception for this one.

My Rating: 5/5