The+Truth+About+Forever

Maraide Cifelli, Marissa Cornejo, Alex Gold, Megan Loucas

Meeting 1: Ch. 1-6 //113 pg// Meeting 2: Ch. 7-12 //136 pg// Meeting 3: Ch. 13-end //123 pg//
 * READING SCHEDULE**

// Meeting #1 //

**From the 1st page:** It was hard to tell who the narrator was. Jason (Macy's boyfriend?) is packing for "brain camp".

**What do you hope to get out of this book? ** An important message sent out by the author.

**Why did you select it? ** We have read books by the same author before and wanted to read more of her books and we heard it was a good/ interesting book. It was also on the to-read list on Good Reads of everyone.

**What are you hoping to learn or find out? ** We hope to find out what the author is trying to depict in the title.

**Personal Connections:**
 * Like Macy, we can relate to the feeling of a parent's passing. We know people who have a lost a parent(s) whether it was by death or abandonment.
 * In all of Dessen's books, there is some type of tragedy or even death and the main character is trying to heal
 * All of Dessen's books relate to teenagers and teenage relationships that we can easily connect and relate such as love, heartbreak, death, depression, and school

//Meeting #2://

**Why isn't Macy with Wes already?!?!?!?!**
 * Wes has a girlfriend
 * Macy & Jason are on a "break"

**Symbolism of Father's Death:**
 * EZ Products
 * Beach House
 * Mother's new job (real estate developer/ agent)
 * Running
 * WES'S MOM DIED

**Why is redoing the beach house so emotional?**
 * Their dad loved it there
 * Hadn't been there since he died
 * Some of his belongings are still in the house

**How has Macy developed throughout the book so far?**
 * Wish Job: brought her out of her shell and she now has a social life
 * She no longer cares what the people at the library think of her (they may not like her because of her intelligence)
 * She realizes being perfect (have to show people that she is strong) is no longer important
 * She goes to parties and drinks

**What is the significance of the Truth game?**
 * Help them become more comfortable with each other
 * Helps them be more open about things they have never talked about with others
 * Helps her realize that she doesn't have to be reliant on Jason

//Meeting #3//

**What was our overall reaction to the book?**
 * Started off slow, got better towards the end
 * For those who have read her books before, he writing and the plots are similar
 * Her books are generally geared towards teenage girls
 * There were a few chapters in between that was boring

**Would we recommend this book?**
 * Yes, we would recommend this book to teenage girls because the situations and the plot are relatable to most teenagers (love, loss, death, family)

**How did the characters progress through the book?**
 * //Macy -// stopped trying to be perfect. came out of her shell. started running, wasn't as hard to go to the beach house (memories of her father)
 * //Caroline// - rebel when younger, married after college, dedicated to her work at the beach house. began to come to terms with her father's death
 * //Mom// - went to the beach house, dropped her work to become more dedicated to the family
 * //Wes -// went to rehab, had a girlfriend (Becky), fell in love with Macy

**What general message is sent to the reader throughout the book?**
 * Always lean on family through death, etc. and sometimes try to step out of your own comfort zone in order to learn more about yourself and overcome family tragedies.
 * The "truth about forever" is that it is never permanent and always changing. There is no "forever"

"That was the thing. You just never knew. Forever was so many different things. It was always changing, it was what everything was really about. It was twenty minutes, or a hundred years, or just this instant, or any instant I wished would last and last. But, there was only one truth about forever that really mattered, and that was this: it was happening. Right then, as I ran with Wes into that bright sun, and every moment afterwards. Look, there. Now. Now. Now." //Ch, 22; Pg. 374//