The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen

Title: The Rest of the Story
Author: Sarah Dessen
Publication: HarperCollins, hardcover, 2019
Genre: Young Adult

Plot: When Emma Payne’s father remarries, she unexpectedly needs a place to go while he is on his honeymoon. The surprising suggestion is that Emma visit her mother’s mother in working class North Lake, two hours away. Emma’s mother was an addict who overdosed years ago, and Emma has had no contact with her mother’s family since she was 4, although she remembers stories her mother told her as a child. When she arrives, she meets cousins she didn’t know existed and learns her grandmother runs a motel. She also learns that her Calvander family know her as Saylor, which is her middle name. Determined to pull her weight, Emma Saylor is soon changing bedding and scrubbing toilets with her cousins and Roo, the cute son of her mother’s best friend. Cleaning allows time for contemplation about her mother’s sad end; why doesn’t Emma remember more about her childhood visit; the contrast between North Lake and the affluent resort side of town, known as Lake North, which is where Emma’s mother first met her father. Although it takes strategy, Emma finds she fits in on both sides of the lake and, ultimately, has to make a choice regarding where she actually belongs.

My Impressions: A new Sarah Dessen is always a treat, and after a few that were only so-so, I felt this one returned to her usual high standard. Emma is introspective and allows the reader to share her reactions and feelings and, as always, the author makes you care about her. Like many heroines of this genre, Emma is trying to figure out who she is – with the added complication of learning she has two names – Emma, her comfortable suburban self, and Saylor, her can-do summer lake self. Knowing your mother was an addict and died from her addiction would be stressful for anyone and one can’t blame her father for shielding her from that part of her heritage, but it is hard to believe that her paternal relatives living just two hours away gave up on all contact with Emma. Her father didn’t even know Emma’s grandfather had died!

Coming to North Lake brings Emma Saylor close to her rediscovered family, helps her realize all the things she can do – drive, clean (you can tell Sarah Dessen has deep cleaned some rooms in her time – I wish I had those skills!), hold her own against anyone who challenges her, and reclaim memories of her mother. Dessen excels in depicting relationships, and the best part of the book is the way Emma Saylor and her three cousins establish friendships. If there was a flaw, it was that the story is light on romance.   Roo is appealing (except for his name) but very understated.

Off the Blog: It is day lily season and I am pleased that the crimson and peach bulbs I planted have finally emerged! Gardening is an uphill battle for me.

Source: Library copy but I hope to attend a book signing later this month in Falmouth and purchase my own. Not long ago I learned that my father and Sarah Dessen’s father were college classmates, although I doubt they knew each other.  Funny to think she might have turned up at Harvard instead of becoming a Tar Heel!   My elder nieces and I did meet Sarah in 2013 - see photo (proof!).