Love, Sara [Hardcover]

Mary Beth Lundgren (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2001

"From the computer files of Sara J. Reichert:
My life, from the last day of summer vacation,
to almost spring of my Junior year.
No matter what you might have heard,
this is the real story."

Love, Sara is the story of two teenage best friends, Sara and Dulcie. Sara, the narrator, comes from a troubled family and has been sexually abused by her father. After a string of false starts she finally lands in a foster home where people genuinely care about her . Dulcie, who had been adopted as a baby by a close-knit, middle-class family, finds her own life spinning out of control when she and a popular football player fall in love. When his wealthy, bigoted parents learn that Dulcie is pregnant, they throw him out of the house. Without resources, the two come up with a desperate plan. And it is Sara, with the help of her foster mother, who must race against time to try to prevent her friends' impending suicide.

This fast-paced and powerful novel is told through e-mail exchanges between the two friends, through Sara's journal entries, her school essays, newspaper clippings, poems, and quotations. With vivid characters, Love, Sara is unique in its narrative form and honest and forthright in the themes it presents.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Through a series of e-mail exchanges, diary entries and fiction penned by an intelligent narrator, Lundgren (We Sing the City) shapes a fast-paced and emotionally layered novel about a troubled high school junior living with a foster family. Gradually, readers learn that Sara Reichert was sexually abused by her father and other men, then was shuffled from home to home. Now, having lived with the stable Carol and her two children for nearly four years, Sara is finally feeling somewhat grounded and has her first real friends. Even so, she's haunted by her past, and unable to discuss her feelings except in the stories she writes for her Honors English class. Meanwhile, her best friend, Dulcie, and Dulcie's boyfriend are in a dramatic Romeo and Juliet-like relationship. When Sara first decides to join their suicide pact, then rejects it, she doesn't know who to turn to for help. The narrative starts slowly, but Lundgren smoothly incorporates the various storytelling devices and keeps the narrative going apace. Sara addresses her journal entries to Toulouse-Lautrec (because "You were an outsider too") and her stories add texture and complexity as the plots and metaphors subtly reveal events from her past. Lundgren captures powerful emotions in brief exchanges and the turn of a phrase. Ages 12-up. (Oct.).

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up-Through journal entries and e-mails, readers are introduced to Sara, whose voice is alternately light and weighty, as she tells of her slow growth into her new foster home. Sexually abused by her father, Sara was taken from her family and has learned not to trust anyone except her best friend, Dulcie. She has been moved in and out of various homes until landing with Carol and her two children. Sara and Dulcie's frequent e-mails are full of typical teen angst about love and school, clothes and complaints. The normalcy reflected here is balanced by journal entries addressed to Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, in which Sara reveals her internal struggles. English assignments included in the journal along with teacher comments elucidate that pain and hurt from her past that form the basis of her mistrust and alienation. Even as readers see her beginning to heal, events conspire to push her into believing that there is no hope for her. As the book races to the end, they will be on edge wondering if the strengths she has gained will be enough when pregnant Dulcie and her boyfriend, who has been disowned by his wealthy family, are killed in an accident. Sara is an unreliable narrator at times, and readers will need to pay close attention to subtle hints about what is going on. While lacking emotional depth and complexity, the fast-paced narrative and teen voice provide plenty of appeal, even for reluctant readers.

Carol A. Edwards, Sonoma County Library, Santa Rosa, CA

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); 1st edition (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805067973
• ISBN-13: 978-0805067972
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,261,511 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A stormy friendship supported by email communications, January 3, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love, Sara (Hardcover)

Two teen best friends who come from foster homes form an uncertain, often stormy friendship supported by email communications in this unusual story, told in the form of emails exchanged by the two. One finds romance, pregnancy, and rejection and the other friend lands in a good foster home and tries to help her pal in this story of changes.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Must-Read For Anyone Who Has Heard of Foster-Care, July 5, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Love, Sara (Hardcover)

Sara Reichart is a sixteen year-old girl who looks forward to entering her junior year with her best friend, Dulcie, a Korean adoptee. However, Sara is no ordinary girl in that she is living with a foster mother, who is a widow with a twelve year-old daughter and a six year-old son. Sara was taken out of her parents' custody when it was found out that her father was sexually abusing her. "I only did it to save Suzy (her younger sister)" she says. Sara has been in many foster homes before, and for some reason or another, it has not worked out. She has also been in hospitals for struggling with depression, suicide attempts, and self-mutilation. Clearly, she is a very confused and very misunderstood young teenager, who has to deal with flashbacks (even when a boy just touches her) and feelings of anger and rejection, and the difficulty of being the odd girl in a close family, in addition to normal teenage angst.

When Dulcie falls in love with John, his traditional parents don't approve of her Korean nationality, while her parents don't want her to be dating a sophisticated, popular boy. Even Sara, herself, is originally suspicious, but soon grows to care for John and his friends. When Dulcie finds out that she is pregnant, she feels at a loss because her parents will be furious, and John's have thrown him out of the house already. Feeling abandoned and alone, they make a suicide pact to die together, and Sara, not wanting to be alone, decides to join. I won't spoil the ending other than to say that it is both hopeful, yet painfully realistic.

This book takes the form of back-and-forth e-mails, not-quite-fictional stories Sara writes for her English class, and journal entries, which Sara pens to the French artist Toulouse-Lautrec, which sounds far-fetched, but when you realize that he painted the degraded women of France's underground, you can see the connection. The book is well-written and you can really empathize and feel close to Sara, who seems so talented and gifted, yet so horribly exploited. My biggest disappointment with this book was that the subject of incest was dealt with so subtly. The story focused more on Sara's present with Dulcie, rather than her past at home. There are only a couple of phone calls to her home which reveal the dynamics of Sara's family. Still, I appreciate the author's showing the painful aftermath of sexual abuse and a Social Services removal of a child, unlike most pat "everything will work out" portrayals. I give the author so much credit for tackling this ambitious and sensitive subject! "Love, Sara" is a must-read.

5.0 out of 5 stars the best, February 1, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Love, Sara (Hardcover)

this story was so real and raw! i read this book in one day. i couldn't put it down! the things that sara goes through are so unreal. i suggest that every teenagers, boys and girls should read this book! I LOVED IT!