A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks

Today I am doing my book review on the book A Walk to Remember, by Nicholas Sparks. It is a fiction novel with a ton of suspense. The inspiration for this novel came from Nicholas Sparks's sister: her life and her courage. It is one of my favorite books yet.

It is about a seventeen-year-old boy who is considered cool in his school. That is until he does something that crosses the line. He goes to the dance with the Minister’s
daughter. As a kid, Landon used to make fun of Hegbert Sullivan, and up until that day, he still had made fun of him. When he falls for Jamie Sullivan, he never knew he would go this far for someone he loved. What does he do? What will people think of him? What do you think will happen? I really liked this book a lot because it was extremely heartfelt, and it was just so page turning! My reaction at the end was so emotional because it was so sad.

My favorite quote from this book is the very beginning. “When I was seventeen my life changed forever…. I’m fifty-seven years old, but even now I remember everything from that year, down to the smallest details. I relive that year very often in my mind, bringing it back to life, and I realize that when I do, I always feel a strange combination of sadness and joy… This is my story; I promise to leave nothing out.
First you will smile, and then you will cry- don’t say you haven’t been warned…
And so begins a tale of true love, first love, and everlasting love that you will never forget…”

“Sparks makes the story seem real, even as he makes his characters seem real. Part of the allure is that we want to believe that love can be pure and that good wins out in the end. Sparks helps us maintain that belief.” Says the Wisconsin State Journal. The Salisbury Post (North Carolina) says, “One of the books you’ll definitely want to read by a cozy fire in the winter… This book quickly joined Sparks’s others as highly acclaimed creations. And with fine reason. Take this “walk” with Sparks. You’ll be glad you did.”

Nicholas Sparks has also written Dear John, Message in a Bottle, The Last Song, and The Notebook. All of these have been made into movies, some of which you might have seen. I have seen the movie, The Last Song, but have not read the book. He has not won any awards, and the recommended age for this book is young adult to adult. It was copyrighted in 1999. I would say it is for both boys and girls because the main character is a boy, Landon. It is partially for girls because it is a romance novel mostly girls like to read.


Kirkus Reviews says: “Sparks (The Notebook, 1996; Message in a Bottle, 1998) carries on in his determined effort to make people cry, this time with an old premise, slow windup, and wobbly pitch. In 1958, high-school senior Landon Carter is 17. Even though his father is a US Congressman, Landon's best friends are on the taunting, swaggering side—football players and such, who hang around at the local drive-in and flaunt their disrespect. So it's strange indeed when Landon gets involved with the nicest girl in town—classmate Jamie Sullivan, who carries a Bible everywhere she goes, does endless good deeds, and is the only child of the widowed Rev. Hegbert Sullivan, the churchman whom Landon and gang love to throw taunts after from hiding places behind trees. But Landon has enrolled in a drama class (for the easy A), and that class is responsible for putting on the annual Christmas play, written by Hegbert, which will be special this year because the author's beloved daughter will have the female lead—she's an angel who ministers to a sorrow-filled widower. When Jamie asks Landon if he won't please be the male lead, what can he say? And what can he do, as rehearsals go on, when he starts not only respecting Jamie, but liking her? Embarrassing as it is before his friends, Landon starts helping her do good deeds, and, on performance night, seeing her true beauty for the first time, falls in love with her. Oh, say it isn't so—since great, deep sorrow lies ahead. For Jamie has a secret that, when she tells it to her loving Landon, explains everything—the Bible she carries, new meanings in the Christmas play, even Jamie's reasons for finding it really special this year. Sparks pulls out all the stops as Landon, from a vantage of 40 years later, tells the story out to its teary end. Weepy wisdom aimed at the holiday trade.”

Recommended by Isabel Brehm