Mia finds herself the only survivor of a tragic car accident that kills her parents and younger brother. She is in a coma when she realizes she is somehow in between life and death, and has a choice to make. Should she stay or go?
This is a very emotional story, agonizing at times, when the reader imagines what it must be like for Mia and how strong the pull must be for her to join her now deceased family, wherever they may be. The author does not spend a lot of time trying to figure out what exists on "the other side", which is nice. Instead, the book focuses on what Mia's life was like before the accident. She is a gifted cello player, the black sheep in her family of punk rockers. Her boyfriend Adam is about to make it big with his band, and she is struggling to figure out her place in his world. What really drives this book is the relationship between Mia and her parents and her brother Teddy. It is a tender and loving bond, unlike any I have read in a novel for teens.
If you want to keep up the cryfest after reading If I Stay, check out Before I Die by Jenny Downham and let the tears flow where they may.
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