Faithful

Faithful by Alice Hoffman is again another wonderful story.  Hoffman has once again been able to weave a plot that touches so many and is so real.

 Exploring the world through the eyes of a teenager who has experienced tragedy the reader is taken to the depths of despair and brought back from the edge.  Following through the eyes of Shelby we are taken for a joyride that turns tragic.  Shelby and her best friend, Helene, are at the pinnacle of their high school experience.  They are popular and get good grades.  They have been accepted to the same college.  But a mistake changes their lives in a minute and there is no going back.

Shelby people would say was the lucky one, she walks away able to continue on with her life.  But, as sometimes people don't see from the outside, Shelby does not feel lucky.  She does not feel like she can move forward or go on with the life she had planned.  Though her parents try to help, they also are working through challenges in their marriage.  Shelby must find her own way, the answers that will resonate for her and bring her back from the edge.  She meets Ben, a boy she did not like in high school, who now is trying to help rescue her.

Shelby is not sure she is worth rescuing or that it is even possible.  Shelby learns with time that, "Every story had the same message; what was deep inside could only be deciphered by someone who understood how easily a heart could be broken."

Shelby feels that she is broken and is not sure she can be fixed.  This is a story that every parent understands as the reason we set rules for our children.  This is exactly the kind of heartbreak we are trying to save our children from.