This is a funny, bittersweet and irresistible teenage romance, perfect for fans of Gayle Forman's "If I Stay", Jenny Downham's "Before I Die" or Lauren Oliver's "Before I Fall". This is a funny, bittersweet teenage romance for those who loved "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher. Seventeen-year-old Campbell doesn't believe in miracles. She's spent the last five years in and out of hospitals, so she's pretty skeptical. But Campbell's mum and sister won't give up. They've heard rumours of a place in Maine where magical things happen: fish raining from the sky, purple dandelions, and everlasting sunsets. A place named Promise. Yes, really. So they head to Promise for a holiday by the sea, where Cam meets mysterious neighbour Asher, a crazy donkey called James and a puppy who's a survivor. In Promise Cam learns to believe in true love, in herself, and maybe even in miracles. This is Wendy Wunder's debut novel - and it lives up to her unusual surname! Wendy lives in Boston with her daughter and family and teaches yoga as well as writing.
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About the Author
When she's not writing or spending time with her miraculous daughter, Cadence, Wendy teaches yoga in Boston. Like Cam, she has always wanted a Volkswagen Beetle in Vapor. The Probability of Miracles is her first novel, and yes, Wendy Wunder is her real name. You can visit her online at www.probabilityofmiracles.com.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
"The Probability of Miracles" isn't an easy book to read, but it is an absolutely beautiful debut.
The story is about Cam, a seventeen year old girl with cancer. She's just been informed by her doctor that there's nothing else they can do to help her, that the best she can hope for is a miracle. Her mother, Alicia, refuses to give up, however, and soon they head off to Promise, Maine - a place that is said to be magical. Along the way they visit her grandmother and her best friend, Lily, who is also battling cancer. Although Lily and Cam speak daily, Cam finds herself dumbfounded when Lily reveals she's met a boy, Ryan. When Cam finds out Ryan has a girlfriend and he's messing around with Lily on the side, she flat-out asks if he intends on breaking up with his girlfriend for Lily. When Cam tries to explain to Lily what Ryan told her, Lily decides she wants nothing to do with Cam anymore.
When they finally do reach Maine, Cam finds herself unable to believe in hope, love, and miracles - everything her mother and Lily want her to believe in. But when she finally opens up, she begins to rethink everything.
I absolutely loved Cam. She's sarcastic. She's funny. She seems real. Everything that she goes through: falling in love for the first time (Asher), dealing with the loss of a friend, and accepting that her family's lives will continue without her - it all feels real. Same for the other characters. Each and every character in "The Probability of Miracles" is flawed, but that makes them more realistic. For example, Cam's mother, Alicia, isn't the perfect mother by any standards, but you can tell she loves her daughter and that she's terrified of losing her. That final scene between the two of them - it's a beautifully written moment.
There are plenty of humorous moments through out "The Probability of Miracles", mainly thanks to Nana and Cam, but this isn't a happy story. It's a story about a young girl trying to experience everything life has to offer before it's too late. Expect tears when you finish. Lots of them.
The story is about Cam, a seventeen year old girl with cancer. She's just been informed by her doctor that there's nothing else they can do to help her, that the best she can hope for is a miracle. Her mother, Alicia, refuses to give up, however, and soon they head off to Promise, Maine - a place that is said to be magical. Along the way they visit her grandmother and her best friend, Lily, who is also battling cancer. Although Lily and Cam speak daily, Cam finds herself dumbfounded when Lily reveals she's met a boy, Ryan. When Cam finds out Ryan has a girlfriend and he's messing around with Lily on the side, she flat-out asks if he intends on breaking up with his girlfriend for Lily. When Cam tries to explain to Lily what Ryan told her, Lily decides she wants nothing to do with Cam anymore.
When they finally do reach Maine, Cam finds herself unable to believe in hope, love, and miracles - everything her mother and Lily want her to believe in. But when she finally opens up, she begins to rethink everything.
I absolutely loved Cam. She's sarcastic. She's funny. She seems real. Everything that she goes through: falling in love for the first time (Asher), dealing with the loss of a friend, and accepting that her family's lives will continue without her - it all feels real. Same for the other characters. Each and every character in "The Probability of Miracles" is flawed, but that makes them more realistic. For example, Cam's mother, Alicia, isn't the perfect mother by any standards, but you can tell she loves her daughter and that she's terrified of losing her. That final scene between the two of them - it's a beautifully written moment.
There are plenty of humorous moments through out "The Probability of Miracles", mainly thanks to Nana and Cam, but this isn't a happy story. It's a story about a young girl trying to experience everything life has to offer before it's too late. Expect tears when you finish. Lots of them.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
By Kat Alexander
Let me start by directing you towards the author's name. Wendy Wunder. Book about miracles. Now, I may not be one to believe in miracles, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a good coincidence. (And enjoy a name pun. With the initials `A.K.A.', I think it's a requirement.)
The Probability of Miracles (thankfully containing no actual math) leaves it to the reader to decide whether the strange things that happen are truly miracles or just odd coincidences. Campbell Cooper, our sixteen-year-old dry wit protag, is prone to erring on the side of caution. There are no miracles. Cam's had a pretty bad run of life--her parents' divorce, followed by her father dying from cancer, followed by her getting cancer . . . and all while living at the Happiest Place on Earth. That's right: Walt Disney World, where Cam's mom, Alicia, works.
Alicia believes in miracles, though, and when Cam's cancer is deemed a lost cause ("What you need is a miracle," says Cam's doctor), Alecia packs up Cam and her younger sister, Perry, to spend what will likely be Cam's last summer in Promise, Maine, where there are flamingos and purple dandelions and sunsets that last for hours. Maybe here, they will find Cam a miracle. Even if it isn't the one anyone is expecting.
I read The Probability of Miracles in one night. I looked up when I had finished to see that it was suddenly eleven at night--and I still hadn't written anything for NaNoWriMo that day. It's just the tiniest bit super enthralling that way.
Cam may be an undeniable pessimist, but she's the nice sort of pessimist--the sort that's pessimistic because, well, she's dying (just a bit of a bummer, that), but at the same time recognizes her pessimism and occasionally tries to lighten it up a bit for Alecia and Perry. I adore Cam. She's witty without seeming overdone; witty to a spoken degree, rather than to a writer-sitting-at-a-desk-has-all-day-to-think-of-a-clever-line degree. She tends to go off the deep end rather often. She makes crappy choices. She's dying after all, and finds herself trying to fit an entire bucket list into a few short months. While I may have occasionally thought she moves too fast and is too unsupervised (dare I say: where are the parents in YA?), I never found myself disliking Cam, or thinking ill of her because of her choices. Wunder has done a remarkable job of keeping Cam believable and identifiable, even as she dies of cancer, even as she makes some remarkably bad decisions.
This is in part because of the quick pacing of the novel. One event quickly moves on to take the place of the next. There are days-long gaps in between chapters every now and then. Time passes quickly. There aren't many real obstacles. Characters decide to do something; characters do it. It seems rushed for a moment, then you remember that it's been four days since the last chapter ended-there has been time for x, y, and z to be planned--the author has just skipped over that phase, because frankly, it'd be boring to read and the book is 350 pages long as is. I didn't notice until I was halfway through the book that Cam, Alicia, and Perry still hadn't made it to Maine. The 350 pages go quickly, and because Cam is so likable, anything unrealistic or overly quick melts into the background. A lot happens in those 350 pages, but I never questioned any of it, or how easily each new event came-characters decide to do something, characters do it. No questions asked.
A bit grim and a bit serious at times (have I mentioned how the main character spends the entire book dying?), The Probability of Miracles still comes highly recommended. Keep some chocolate on hand and a good chunk of time set aside to finish it in one go, if necessary. And now I leave you with one last horrible name pun: it'll be a miracle if stores can keep this book on their shelves! Ha. Ha. Ha.
Let me start by directing you towards the author's name. Wendy Wunder. Book about miracles. Now, I may not be one to believe in miracles, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a good coincidence. (And enjoy a name pun. With the initials `A.K.A.', I think it's a requirement.)
The Probability of Miracles (thankfully containing no actual math) leaves it to the reader to decide whether the strange things that happen are truly miracles or just odd coincidences. Campbell Cooper, our sixteen-year-old dry wit protag, is prone to erring on the side of caution. There are no miracles. Cam's had a pretty bad run of life--her parents' divorce, followed by her father dying from cancer, followed by her getting cancer . . . and all while living at the Happiest Place on Earth. That's right: Walt Disney World, where Cam's mom, Alicia, works.
Alicia believes in miracles, though, and when Cam's cancer is deemed a lost cause ("What you need is a miracle," says Cam's doctor), Alecia packs up Cam and her younger sister, Perry, to spend what will likely be Cam's last summer in Promise, Maine, where there are flamingos and purple dandelions and sunsets that last for hours. Maybe here, they will find Cam a miracle. Even if it isn't the one anyone is expecting.
I read The Probability of Miracles in one night. I looked up when I had finished to see that it was suddenly eleven at night--and I still hadn't written anything for NaNoWriMo that day. It's just the tiniest bit super enthralling that way.
Cam may be an undeniable pessimist, but she's the nice sort of pessimist--the sort that's pessimistic because, well, she's dying (just a bit of a bummer, that), but at the same time recognizes her pessimism and occasionally tries to lighten it up a bit for Alecia and Perry. I adore Cam. She's witty without seeming overdone; witty to a spoken degree, rather than to a writer-sitting-at-a-desk-has-all-day-to-think-of-a-clever-line degree. She tends to go off the deep end rather often. She makes crappy choices. She's dying after all, and finds herself trying to fit an entire bucket list into a few short months. While I may have occasionally thought she moves too fast and is too unsupervised (dare I say: where are the parents in YA?), I never found myself disliking Cam, or thinking ill of her because of her choices. Wunder has done a remarkable job of keeping Cam believable and identifiable, even as she dies of cancer, even as she makes some remarkably bad decisions.
This is in part because of the quick pacing of the novel. One event quickly moves on to take the place of the next. There are days-long gaps in between chapters every now and then. Time passes quickly. There aren't many real obstacles. Characters decide to do something; characters do it. It seems rushed for a moment, then you remember that it's been four days since the last chapter ended-there has been time for x, y, and z to be planned--the author has just skipped over that phase, because frankly, it'd be boring to read and the book is 350 pages long as is. I didn't notice until I was halfway through the book that Cam, Alicia, and Perry still hadn't made it to Maine. The 350 pages go quickly, and because Cam is so likable, anything unrealistic or overly quick melts into the background. A lot happens in those 350 pages, but I never questioned any of it, or how easily each new event came-characters decide to do something, characters do it. No questions asked.
A bit grim and a bit serious at times (have I mentioned how the main character spends the entire book dying?), The Probability of Miracles still comes highly recommended. Keep some chocolate on hand and a good chunk of time set aside to finish it in one go, if necessary. And now I leave you with one last horrible name pun: it'll be a miracle if stores can keep this book on their shelves! Ha. Ha. Ha.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I knew before reading The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder, I would cry. But I just didn't realize how much. The Probability of Miracles is seriously intense.
Cam, the protagonist, is biting and sarcastic and witty and real. She's got this terrible disease that is killing her, and she's walling herself off from the world with sarcasm and anger. She doesn't want to let the cancer control her, and the struggle within herself is reflected beautifully in everything she does and says in this book.
All of the characters, for that matter - her mother, her sister, Asher...I just loved each and every one of them and I hurt for them, having to watch Cam go through this.
And oh my god, the story. It's painful and heartbreaking and I just ached for all these characters. I literally cried and cried and cried.
The Probability of Miracles is a beautiful debut full of real characters with real and terrible problems. But it's almost a story of hope, a story about living, if that makes any sense.
If you're looking for a fantastic contemporary that's sure to make you feel something, definitely check out The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder.
Cam, the protagonist, is biting and sarcastic and witty and real. She's got this terrible disease that is killing her, and she's walling herself off from the world with sarcasm and anger. She doesn't want to let the cancer control her, and the struggle within herself is reflected beautifully in everything she does and says in this book.
All of the characters, for that matter - her mother, her sister, Asher...I just loved each and every one of them and I hurt for them, having to watch Cam go through this.
And oh my god, the story. It's painful and heartbreaking and I just ached for all these characters. I literally cried and cried and cried.
The Probability of Miracles is a beautiful debut full of real characters with real and terrible problems. But it's almost a story of hope, a story about living, if that makes any sense.
If you're looking for a fantastic contemporary that's sure to make you feel something, definitely check out The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Didn't quite work for me
This is mostly what I kept thinking while reading the book: 'Hmm...' Which equaled other sentences like 'When am I going to get hooked to this story?' and 'I'm not feeling it. Read more
Published 2 months ago by woven
5.0 out of 5 stars
Must Read!! Uplifting Yet a Tear Jerker
The Probability of Miracles written by author Wendy Wunder is a hard hitting look at what a person goes through when dealing with cancer. Read more
Published 4 months ago by KrisSpor
5.0 out of 5 stars
Haunting and stunning
There are books that with you for a long time, I found The Probability of Miracles to be one of those books. I could relate to Cam, so much. We had a lot of the same interests. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Sarah Woodard
5.0 out of 5 stars
My #1 read of 2012
I read almost 250 books this year and this was my favorite. It is wonderful and beautiful and unlike anything I have ever read. Can't say enough good things about it honestly!
Published 4 months ago by Brent Sallay
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Probability of Miracles
Hands down one of my favorite books. It was full of details and was unpredictable. The characters all grew on me. It was so sweet it made my heart hurt. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Anonymous
5.0 out of 5 stars
this is actually a good book
the characters are specific enough that their relationships are believable and strong enough that you can believe the miraculous events.
Published 5 months ago by Marika Paras
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty good
maybe a little sad.
because, you know, the low probability of miracles actually.
but still a really good book. Read more
because, you know, the low probability of miracles actually.
but still a really good book. Read more
Published 7 months ago by E. Cunningham
2.0 out of 5 stars
I couldn't even finish it
The story had very good potential, but unfortunetly, it went completely in the wrong direction. The problem is Cam. Cam is a snotty, stuck-up, full-of-herself little brat. Read more
Published 8 months ago by the reading freak
3.0 out of 5 stars
Could have been better.
Maybe it was just the mood I was in, but this book didn't do it for me. I liked it, but I felt like it dragged on. Also, I have grown to despise books written in third-person. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Emily Savant
3.0 out of 5 stars
Formularic and underwhelming
I hate when this happens. When I read a book everyone loved and end up disappointed, feeling like the only person in the world that didn't end up falling head-over-heels in love... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Hannah @ Paperback Treasures
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