Forever for a Year

Forever for a Year by B.T. Gottfred
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a delightful, sad, thought provoking book. B. T. Gottfred has managed to take the tart (and sometimes bitter) taste of life and wrap it in the sweetness of something we all know well - our first year of high school.

At first, this book is just ridiculous. It is told via the stream of consciousness from a fourteen year old girl. Carrie has decided she will now be known as Carolina - pronounced car-o-leen-ah, because she is now grown up and no longer a baby in junior high school. We start with her first day, full of trepidation and insecurity. Trevor, a new boy, enters the classroom late so she gives him two sheets of paper and a pencil.

The book is told alternately from Carolina's and Trevor's points of view. It really is stream of consciousness; probably the funniest thing is when they catch themselves being ridiculous. Case in point - Carolina often says her life is ruined. Then she decides to stop being such a drama queen and stop referring to her life being ruined. It's almost like you're reading their diaries.

But the writing fools you. I wondered if I could continue with the story after just the second chapter. But Gottfred draws us in slowly, putting us right into the minds of these two characters. They begin a relationship that is naive and sweet, full of saccharine almost to the point of nausea. But it works, because while we're rolling our eyes we're understanding that this is the only way these two teenagers know how to communicate. Their feelings are heartfelt even though they relate them in such a juvenile way. The sappy dialogue is nicely balanced with their poignant inner musings.

And they do communicate well, which might be where the book strays somewhat into unrealistic territory. What two teenagers are that secure in themselves that they can be so honest? As their relationship gets more and more serious, they find solace in each other as their respective families slowly disintegrate. It's funny the way they think of the future and yet tragic when they have to face it. As I watched them encounter the real world, changing feelings, changing situations and people, I just couldn't turn away. My heart just broke for them, because life isn't the fairytale they believed it was. It was almost like watching them figure out that Santa isn't real.

Because of the dual perspectives, the characters are extremely well-developed. Carolina starts out as a quiet geek. But her true colors emerge as her relationship with Trevor grows; she's an extrovert who loves fun and friends. and Trevor, who is a moody, angsty, angry young man slowly lets go of his cynicism and allows himself to be happy with Carolina. The side characters are just enough to enhance the story without overwhelming it. They lend a sense of believability to the plot.

Ultimately the strength of this book is that kids just starting high school will be able to identify with it. The book illustrates beautifully what can happen when every hope and dream rests on a changing, growing person. Disappointment and heartache always follow. And yet, that's not the end of the world. We grow up and life goes on.

Also refreshing is that the adults in this book are seriously flawed but never really vilified. The book really does take a pretty realistic view of kids playing at being adults - and then finding out all is not what it seems.

I never expected that the flighty ramblings of a fourteen year old girl would move me. But it really did. By the end, I was totally invested in this story. This author took a gimmicky hook - telling the story via stream of consciousness - and turned it into something beautiful. What a pleasure it was.

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