Waiting for Sarah [Paperback]

Bruce McBay (Author), James Heneghan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2003

Mike looks beyond his own grief to help a girl from beyond the grave. (20030101)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-10-When 10th-grader Mike loses his family and both legs in an automobile accident, he is predictably withdrawn and highly resistant to those intent on helping him. Just as total academic and social detachment seem inevitable, the yearbook committee at his Vancouver high school offers Mike a job assembling a 50th anniversary feature. He accepts, but only because the assignment will free him from attending the soporific history class taught by the dreaded Mr. Dorfman. The plot takes a supernatural turn when an eighth-grade yearbook assistant, Sarah, turns up. Her persistent peppiness gradually defrosts Mike, and young love seems destined to run its course until he reports to his post one day to find Sarah bloodied and weeping in a corner. When she runs out, Mike notifies school officials who inform him that they have no record of her existence. Eventually, yearbooks reveal that she was a student there, but was slain in an unsolved murder dating back to 1982. In subsequent appearances, Sarah reveals the identity of her killer, and Mike sees that justice is done. Unfortunately, while the plot has some compelling ingredients, the third-person narrative relies so heavily on awkward chunks of bald exposition to prop up the tinny dialogue that any personal and spiritual epiphanies that the story's ambitious conclusion might hold are simply not realized.
Jeffrey Hastings, Highlander Way Middle School, Howell, MI
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 7-10. An automobile accident that killed his parents and sister has left Mike Scott bitter, without legs, and with little will to live. His aunt Norma provides a home, and his best friend, Robbie, is attentive, but Mike remains deeply depressed. A project researching and writing the 50-year history of Carlton High School helps engage Mike, until eighth-grader Sarah is assigned to help him. Sarah reminds Mike of his little sister, and he works hard to drive her away. But her curiosity, frankness, and indefatigable good humor gradually nudge Mike out of his self-pity, until the day she disappears. In the tradition of Cynthia Voigt's Izzy Willy Nilly (1986) and Deborah Froese's Out of the Fire (2002), this novel explores what happens when a teenager must adapt to a new, much more limited life, while adding a romantic ghost story to the mix. Mike is realistically angry and unlikable, but readers will easily connect with him as he absorbs Sarah's lessons of survival and courage. Frances Bradburn
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 170 pages
• Publisher: Orca Book Publishers (January 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1551432706
• ISBN-13: 978-1551432700
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,137,490 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THe BEST boOk EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!, May 12, 2005

By 

boOKWorm... (North York, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Waiting for Sarah (Paperback)

I really love this book! I usually read a lot and of all the books I've ever read, this is my favourite of all! The beginning few chapters might not be that exciting, but as soon as you read about Sarah, it becomes a very intriguing story. A huge secret about Sarah is revealed at about the middle of the book, and it was impossible to put it down from then on! You should really read this, you won't regret it!

4.0 out of 5 stars Without You, January 26, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Waiting for Sarah (Paperback)

Mike Scott befriends a young girl named Sarah after his family was killed by a horrible car wreck, resulting from one man's single mistake. Being able to see Sarah everyday helped Mike begin to feel better about his life, which was turned upside down by the accident. The author, McBay,wrote how life can take many unexpected turns when you don't except them to with his creative plot.

Even though Mike's family was killed and his legs were amputated, from the car accident, he was able to forget about the horrible past with the aid Sarah's presence. However, the teacher that he never really trusted caused him to lose her as well. Although he was devastated, she revisits him to easy the pain on important days in Mike's life, such as his high school graduation. Life may have thrown many curves at Mike, yet each one only made him into a stronger person later on.

Along with the well crafted plot, the author caused the book to flow like a river of words, cascading down and over a waterfall. When I first read this book, my heart went out to each of the main characters, causing me to feel the glee and the sorrow that all of them faced during the hardships of their young lives. The well written words caused the emotions to pour out me. I would laugh whenever something was funny and cry when the sorrow was almost too overwhelming. The time when Sarah ran off, looking hurt, torn and ragged, caused the tears film over my eyes and leak out down my check. Every time that I was going to put the book down to do something else, I was always drawn back. It was as though the words were demanding me to get back as soon as possible, so that I wouldn't have to wait to find out what happened next.

Being able to actually feel what a character is going through as though you are that character, facing all the unexcepted turns in their lifes, reflects on how well the author,McBay, has so carefully chosen each word, to create this master piece, Waiting for Sarah.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrible change and recovery evolves, February 9, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: Waiting for Sarah (Paperback)

Mike's parents and sister are dead, his legs are gone, and his life is shattered. He returns to school bitter and distant until he meets Sarah and discovers her secrets. Waiting For Sarah is a very finely written and highly recomended story of terrible change and recovery evolves.