Author:  Nicholas Sparks

Publisher:  Grand Central/Hachette

ISBN #:  978-0-446-54756-7

Type:  Fiction

Pages:  390 Hardback

Publish Date:  September 8, 2009

Website:  http://nicholassparks.com/

Purchase:  $14.99 (HERE) 

The Story

Ronnie’s father, Steve, has been divorced from her mother for over three years.  While Ronnie and her younger brother, Jonah, live in New York with their mother, Steve lives in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.   Although it is the last place on earth that she wants to be, Ronnie is forced to spend a summer with Jonah at her dad’s beach-side home. 

Steve is a professional pianist who once taught at Julliard.  Since his family was separated, his daughter Ronnie has refused to play the piano to spite her dad.  Ronnie is outwardly unhappy about Steve’s home, the piano situated within it, and the full 3 months of visiting that she is facing.  For Ronnie, it seems like more of a jail sentence than a summer with her family.  With little respect for authority or her father’s rules, Ronnie takes off the moment she arrives at his home.  She heads straight down to the boardwalk/pier area where a carnival happens to be in town. 

Trying to avoid her father and Jonah at the carnival, 17-year old Ronnie heads over to watch a nearby volleyball game.  As she casts preconceived ideas into her mind about the crowd and the people of the community, she is suddenly hit by a volleyball player who was in pursuit of the ball.  The result of their collision was Ronnie being drenched by her soda.  Shortly thereafter, Ronnie meets Blaze, another wayward teenager who helps her out by giving her a dry shirt.  The two teens make a connection out of their mutual parent-hating, society-rebelling mind-sets.  Blaze introduces Ronnie to her friends, none of which would be “parent-approved.”  The worst of the bunch is Marcus, a troublemaker who earns money at the pier and the carnival by tossing fireballs in a show.  

Marcus & his gang invite Blaze and Ronnie out to Bower’s Point to drink and hang out.  Later that night when Will overheard Ronnie’s father talking to Officer Pete about his daughter’s whereabouts, a concerned Will told Pete about the kids being at Bower’s Point.  You see, for Will there was something special about that girl, the one with the rebellious streak and the purple stripe in her hair, that he couldn’t let go of… something in her eyes.   He was officially intrigued.

After the complete and total humiliation of being hauled off Bower’s Point and breaking up the party, Ronnie is brought home by Officer Pete.  Considering how badly the first night in Wrightsville Beach was, how would she be able to tolerate the rest of the summer… tormented by her father’s rules, annoyed by an wealthy society where she obviously didn’t fit in, and trying to navigate her way through her friendship with Blaze despite the fact she didn’t approve of Blaze’s friends, especially Marcus. 

Unexpectedly, Ronnie does discovers a nest of sea turtle eggs in the beach behind her father’s home.  It was this nest that led her back to Will, who volunteers at the local aquarium in addition to his volleyball playing days.  What she finds in Will is a friend of the truest kind.  One that will lead you to being the best person that you can be.   

The Review

This novel delivers several stories that tie to one another nicely.  It somewhat reminds me of his novel A Walk To Remember, an all-time favorite of mine.   This book has the story of Ronnie coming of age, discovering her true self, and falling in love for the first time.  This book also has the story of a family that finds a way to heal, forgive one another, and band together in the face of adversity.  Like most of Nicholas Sparks other books, it exudes the warmth and compassion that this reader loves!  He also writes in a Christian thread into this story, which I appreciated and enjoyed.

A prevalent dynamic in the book was the relationship between father and daughter.  Even though I was once a teenager, as a parent it surprises me to see how kids nowadays view their parents.  They are so quick to come to conclusions.  In this story, Ronnie formed opinions of her dad that were solely based on her assumptions.  She blamed him for so much that was wrong with the divorce and within their family life.  She put up a wall in between them.  Although Steve wasn’t the perfect father, he was a good, loving and patient one.  Like all parents, there was room for improvement, however he did have the ability to see the bigger picture where his daughter was concerned.  Steve held the wisdom to exhibit patience and allow Ronnie to discover the truth on her own.  His approach to parenting his nearly 18-year-old daughter with problems, paid off the right dividends because it brought them closer together. 

The Movie

Now… for the interesting news… Nicholas Sparks actually wrote this book after writing the screenplay for this movie.  Yes, it’s normally the other way around!  He wrote it in the same type of spirit as A Walk To Remember as that is what Miley Cyrus had expressed that was the type of movie she wanted to star in (or… something along those lines…).  Miley Cyrus even picked out the name Ronnie for the heroine of this story.  

I have to admit that I knew absolutely none of this when I started reading the book.  It wasn’t until I was doing my “review research” that I ran into these facts.  I’m not sure that I would have cast Miley Cyrus for this role.  Ronnie has more of an edge than I picture Miley portraying.  But, you never know.  With Adam Shankman at the director’s chair, he just may pull it right on out of her.  I’ll try to have an open mind.  Like many other of Nicholas Sparks’ books, I do think this would make a great movie and look forward to seeing it next year.

The Rating

On Sher’s “Out of Ten Scale,” I am giving The Last Song a rating of 9 out of 10.  It has all of the components that a good novel needs… love, family, tragedy, God, and betrayal.  A seasoned writer, Nicholas Sparks provides it all!

HOWEVER… to new readers… I must disclose… I’m a HUGE Nicholas Sparks fan!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE Nicholas Sparks… have read all of his books…. own all of his books and the movies based off of them!  LOVE Nicholas Sparks!

Win 1 of 5 Copies! 

YOU can win a copy of this great book.  My goal is to give away one book for every 20 comments listed… that would be 100 comments… CAN WE DO IT?

Here are the rules:

* Leave A Comment – +1 entry

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* If You Could Help An Endangered Species (Like Ronnie’s Sea Turtles)… Which Would It Be & Why – +2 entries

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* Leave A Comment on My Next Nicholas Sparks Post… hint: has movies – +2 entries

* Contest is open to US/Canada only, 18 Years Old & Over, Contest ends 9/15/09 *

Works By Nicholas Sparks

• Wokini
• The Last Song
• The Lucky One
• The Choice
• Dear John
• At First Sight
• True Believer
• Three Weeks With My Brother
• The Wedding
• The Guardian
• Nights In Rodanthe
• A Bend In The Road
• The Rescue
• A Walk To Remember
• Message In a Bottle
• The Notebook

Giving Thanks

Believe it or not, I actually was so very lucky to have received a “review” copy of this book from the publisher… so, my thanks are to Hachette and my favorite Fairy Book Godmother, M!

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