Stay [Hardcover]

Deb Caletti (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 5, 2011

Clara’s relationship with Christian is intense from the start, and like nothing she’s ever experienced before. But what starts as devotion quickly becomes obsession, and it’s almost too late before Clara realizes how far gone Christian is--and what he’s willing to do to make her stay.

Now Clara has left the city—and Christian—behind. No one back home has any idea where she is, but she still struggles to shake off her fear. She knows Christian won’t let her go that easily, and that no matter how far she runs, it may not be far enough....

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I LOVED it. Stay is masterfully written and so powerfully honest, it is just an absolutely brilliant read....

I wish I could go back in time and hand this book to my teenage self, it was the kind of book I needed and one I think all teenage girls should read.... The writing is beautiful and full of raw emotion.... The characters are exceptional. Clara is definitely one of the most realistic characters I have read in a while.... Overall, this book is amazing. I highly recommend Stay to all fans of contemporary fiction. Definitely a favourite read for 2011." --Nic at irresistiblereads.blogspot.com

"The way [Caletti] describes things - the characters, settings, the small details - is simply breathtaking. The author has such a talent with words that everything becomes so vivid and alive in front of your eyes.

The plot is gripping! The tension builds up chapter after chapter. As the story progresses, we get to know more of Clara's history with Christian. The characterization is excellent! The author makes you really feel for Clara. I felt her pain, her happiness, her fear and confusion. I could feel her turmoil like it was mine.

One of the best YA contemporary novels I have read.

I read Stay in a day and it was worth it. I believe it's an important book for older and younger readers alike. Stay is dark, moving and hard-hitting."

--Misha @ books-love-affair.blogspot.com

"Caletti’s prose is at its best. Perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen’s books, this is a moving tale of a

young woman learning how to love, to live, and to forgive."

--Booklist

"My heart was pounding through several chapters... Stay is an emotional masterpiece. It ended up being even better than expected, and is a must read."

--Shanyn @ chickloveslit.com

"Ms. Caletti's writing was gorgeous. There were so many unique and beautiful observations... The way Ms. Caletti was able to push through the norm and dive for something beautiful underneath the current was incredible. Stay is gripping--one part beauty, one part obsession... it's absolutely a novel to check out."

--Amber @ Down the Rabbit Hole (http://amberinblunderland.blogspot.com/)

"This is the best book I have read. Never have I felt more a part of a story, never have I been so involved, so unsure of the outcome, so tentative as Clara moved ahead with her/my life. I wouldn't have Deb Caletti change even one word in this novel. It isn't entertaining. It's more than realistic. It's real."

--Heather @ buriedinbooks.blogspot.com

"The heavens must have opened and sung a beautiful song while Deb Caletti wrote Stay, because this book straight up gets it. Her style is similar to Dessen, as in you know the story is going to be honest and make you feel all sorts of emotions. I felt a genuine connection to Stay."

--April @ goodbooksandgoodwine.com

"Taking an honest look at the dangers of obsession and stalking, Caletti writes a beautiful story that somehow remains hopeful even when the plot takes a sinister twist. Through the story, all characters come to life and become understandable, if not likable. Recommend this book to every teen and parent. This is a danger often overlooked until it is too late because of its subtlety, and the guilt and shame involved."--VOYA

About the Author

Deb Caletti is the award-winning author of The Queen of Everything; Honey, Baby, Sweetheart; Wild Roses; The Nature of Jade; The Fortunes of Indigo Skye; The Secret Life of Prince Charming; The Six Rules of Maybe; Stay; and The Story of Us, among others. In addition to being a National Book Award finalist, Deb’s work has gained other distinguished recognition, including the PNBA Best Book Award, the Washington State Book Award, and School Library Journal’s Best Book award, as well as finalist citations for the California Young Reader Medal and the PEN USA Literary Award. She lives with her family in Seattle. You can visit her at DebCaletti.com and become a fan on Facebook.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse; 1 edition (April 5, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 144240373X
• ISBN-13: 978-1442403734
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #647,871 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

First of all, a confession. I am a literary addict. I read endlessly, voraciously. In lieu of a book, I will read cereal boxes (Cap'N Crunch breakfast jokes, Special K Heart Smart facts), shampoo bottles, pamphlets in doctors' offices about kidney stones and allergies (neither of which I have), and even those self exam charts with the little arrows going around in circles. My books are multiplying, becoming furniture themselves - end tables, nightstands. On one wall, I have a bookshelf, minus the shelf. I get restless, even sad, when I leave a fictional world I love and am not yet immersed in another. The highest compliment I've gotten about one of my books was from a reader who said she read slower as she approached its end, rationed out the remaining pages because she couldn't bear for it to be finished. Oh, joy. I knew just what she meant.

I was happily hooked at a young age. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and was one of those quiet kids carting home a stack of books. Was? Still am. My mother says there were several years where they never saw me; they just shoved reading material and food under my door (not true, but pretty close). My parents said I'd mess up my eyes reading at night in the back of the car. They were probably right.

Writing, too, was part of my life since I was six or seven. I would get an idea, then bolt off to write it down. A hippie teacher of mine gave encouragement. "Groovy," he'd scrawl, and I had a sense I was on to something. After we moved to the Seattle area when I was twelve, I continued writing - short stories, bad poetry, and later, lyrics.

Being a writer was the only thing I ever wanted to be, but I didn't have the courage to study creative writing in college. I pictured rooms full of people wearing berets and dressed in all black, talking about Turgenev, which sounded a lot like the noise that escaped my throat whenever I was in one of those courses where they asked you to read your work aloud. I worried I wouldn't have the talent, since I didn't own a beret and never wanted one. So I studied journalism. I worked on the radio station, reading the news. What I learned more than anything was that I wasn't a journalist. I earned my B.A. degree from the University of Washington, got married, won the Nobel prize (just seeing if you were still awake) and did PR work. I got serious about fiction writing after my children were born. I didn't want to be one of those people who talked about their dream but never did anything about it. That seemed sad. I worried I would end up sitting alone at the counter at Denny's eating pie and smoking cigarettes, and I've never even smoked. So I made a decision. I would write and keep writing, at least until I was published. No giving up, no going back. I would have the determination and persistence of a dog with a knotted sock.

I read everything on the craft, studied, took notes, wrote and wrote, until finally, finally my fifth book, QUEEN Of EVERYTHING, was published. I would say I'm self-taught, but it isn't true - all my years as a reader, all of those authors I read, taught me. From Mrs. Piggle Wiggle to Tess of the D'Urbervilles. From Encyclopedia Brown to The World According to Garp. Books are what inspire me to write, and to write better. I believe in their power. Books teach empathy and define our lives and times. Writers are our truth tellers, and I strive for honesty in my writing. I want my readers to recognize their own experiences and to see our shared humanity in my work - our mistakes, our triumphs, our pain, those small moments of rightness. I want my readers to miss my characters when the book is set down. If my reader says, "Oh yes, that's just how it is. I know - that's how I feel, too," then I've done my job. I've given what I can to my fellow addict, and maybe, just maybe, I've added a piece to her nightstand.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It was just me and Clara, no author between us. April 2, 2011

By Heather

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

How to start. How to start. Perhaps with what made me unable to put this book down when I got it last evening. First paragraph-

" First off, I've never told this story to anyone. Not the entire thing anyway, and not entirely truthfully. I'm only telling it now for one reason, and that's because an untold story has a weight that can submerge you, sure as a sunken ship at the bottom of the ocean. I learned that. This kind of story, those kind of things kept secret- they have the power to keep you hidden forever, and most of all from yourself. The ghosts from that drowned ship, they keep haunting."

That first paragraph resonated with me so much that I had to dive in with my head and for once, open up that little place I allow to feel, my heart. I knew Clara from the minute she met Christian and knew exactly why she did every action she did. I'd once held the power Clara felt of having someone love her so much that they'd do anything to keep her. It's powerful and wonderful and scary to be the one that loves less. But it's all consuming and Clara learns that there is a dark side to the power and Christian. And his jealousies and walking on eggshells and having to lie about her past becomes too much. It's emotionally draining. And dangerous in a way Clara can't even imagine. She and Christian were perfect and then Christian, perfect, beautiful, foreign Christian let his insecurities begin to show and there was no forgetting. And there is accommodating and adjusting for certain things in a relationship and then there is what Clara did for Christian.

But this is not one of those stories where you can say "Oh stupid girl." and want to shake her because Clara has brought us into the story with her. We are Clara for lack of a better way to explain it.... She put little asterisks in her story. Example- She lets us know her mother is dead.* Then at the bottom of the page

"*Yes this story has a dead mother. Mine. She had a sudden aneurysm when I was barely four. Died before she could even get to a hospital. Dead mother's have become a story cliche thanks to Disney movies and novel writers. All the dead mothers in books, you'd think it was a common occurrence. Even Dad's books have them. But mine was real. She was no cliche and neither am I." It's Clara's story and she's writing it not Deb Caletti. The author is not between us and Clara. She's removed herself and I kept checking the description of the book to make sure this was fiction and not Deb Caletti's real story.

Because the author removed herself from the story, I felt very close to Clara. I identified with her, understood her trying to spare Christian's feelings, trying time and time to remove the hurt. She was a nice girl. She was nice to people and breaking up with someone, well it makes her feel not nice. And she's sure that Christian's reactions are her fault, for that first giddy feeling of power. The one she can't admit to at first but then tells her Dad, her Dad the writer who seems less like a Dad and more like an adult friend that takes care of Clara. He respects her way more than any parent I've ever seen to be called a parent. Yet he is parental when necessary, he doesn't tell Clara "no" when he doesn't like Christian. But when he sees warning signs, danger, he takes action. But if Clara feels shame and can't forgive herself, her father feels even worse. This stalwart man who plays metaphor games and would rather use clues to guess who's house they are renting than google him, the one that insists on protecting his daughter has a big secret. One that changes everything for Clara. She keeps us with her throughout the novel, with her asterisks as if she's sitting beside us letting us know the secret thoughts she had while putting her story down. While unburdening her of the ghosts. More than one passage made me stop and I had to read it over and over sinking into what it really was saying, not just the words on the top layer, but the deeper meaning.

I felt so many emotions reading this novel and when I finished it, I wanted to pick it up and start again. And I will. I'll learn something new that I didn't catch the first time as I ate it up. It isn't a light read or easy. It's philosophical and deep with emotion and thought. It is definitely character driven. Clara brings us along through every emotion dragging us through the dirty self doubt and self incrimination to the final triumph of anger. Does she grow in this book? We're sitting here while she tells her story aren't we? Dad is a big character in this novel and I like the relationship he and Clara have. Does Dad grow? From a famous author to a human being, at least for Clara. There is of course Christian. And if you don't know a Christian in male or female form, then you're lucky. I have a magnet for these type of people. There are other secondary characters that bring some much needed relief to the tension in Clara's life.

If I had a rating system, stars, hearts, rabbits, hats, gold coins any of the creative things I've seen other reviewers use I'd throw all the things I had into a pot and make the biggest star, heart, rabbit, hat, gold coin and make it dance, sing, shoot fire works whatever. This is the best realistic fiction I have ever read. This is the best YA I have read. This is the best book I have read. Never have I felt more a part of a story, never have I been so involved, so unsure of the outcome, so tentative as Clara moved ahead with her/my life. I wouldn't have Deb Caletti change even one word in this novel. It isn't entertaining. It's more than realistic. It's real. Read more ›

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Book Review: Stay May 12, 2011

By P. Eberhardt

Format:Hardcover

I really wanted to love this book. Finally, a story that paints the possessive and controlling boy the way he should be. I wanted to see it in this genre because this type of hehavior does not equal love and devotion. And in the end, it can be very hard to walk away.

In all reality, I though the author does a fantastic job telling us the back story. The book switches back and forth from the present to the past. Clara is already at the beach with her father and she's struggling with her thoughts on what has happened. We gradually get flashbacks of her relationship with Christian. I think the author gets it right. Christian seems wonderful at first, the perfect boyfriend. He's very slow to show his true colors. I think the first couple of time, Clara writes it off and vows to be more careful with what she says and does. By the time he is in full control, the relationship has been going on for so long that Clara doesn't know how to leave. She loves him and thinks he loves her. In her head, she's the one that needs to be better. Which is so how this often works. (I had a friend who was in an abusive relationship in high school. She ultimately died from an accident that occurred because she was unable to tell him no. Something Clara says in this story sounded like something my friends said to her mom right before the accident).

Ultimately, it was the present tense that I just couldn't get into. Clara's behavior just didn't fit with the same person we meet in the flashbacks. For someone who just got out of a controlling relationship (and the one before that seemed abusive), she seems to jump right into the next one. I liked Finn, and he really seemed to understand Clara. Even after Clara tells him what happened, he takes it all in stride. But, it was too soon.... I didn't trust Clara's judgement, even if Finn really is a great guy. Granted, there are still times you can tell Christian's voice is still in her head telling her what to say and do. I think she would have been more like that the entire time.

I also thought the side story with her father was distracting. It was too much going on it one book. If the focus would have been Clara, her relationship with Christian and Finn, I think it would have felt more even. For Clara to have to endure all she does in the story is just overload. She handles it all beautifully though, and I'm sure she's a much stronger women because of it. Read more ›

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not great, but not bad either April 28, 2011

By Jennifer - The Book Admirer

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Contains Spoilers

Stay by Deb Caletti is the story of Clara and her intense relationship with her boyfriend turned ex-boyfriend Christian. It started out as an instant attraction felt by the both of them, they were drawn together into what Clara and Christian though would be forever. Their love started out intense and it ended intense when Christian became obsessive and controlling. He started fights, constantly needed to know where Clara was and what she was doing, he also became paranoid and thought she wanted to be with other guys. Clara decided she had enough, breaks up with him and after he tries to hurt himself, Clara runs away with her Dad for the summer where she meets a hot sailor.

For me, Deb Caletti's books are hit or miss, mostly miss lately. While I was very excited about this book after learning what it was about, it just didn't live up to my expectations. It wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't good enough. The only character I thought was fleshed out enough was the mother and she is but a memory. The character of Clara was kind of confusing to me, she seemed one way then turned around and was different. Christian didn't have enough depth to him except that we knew he was suppose to be the bad guy, and what was the deal with the father? I think I would have liked the book more if Christian was straight up abusive to her. I get that yes there was emotional abuse going on, and he was controlling, but I never got the feeling that he was going to hurt her. I kept waiting for something to happen and to learn what the big event was with all the clues Clara gave only to be let down. All the hiding from him and being afraid only to have him go away and send her a card once a year?... And for someone who was trying to deal with a bad relationship and become a stronger person and deal with her issues she sure overcame all that pretty fast as soon as she set eyes on Finn. She just didn't seem broken to me.

I am giving it three stars because I didn't find it terrible but I didn't love it. I liked the character Finn although I wish he was fleshed out a little more along with the other standby characters. But like I said, it could have been better, but it could have been worse too. Read more ›