This week's Wednesday Wonders features
Right Next to Me
by Rachel Ward
and includes my book review
About Right Next to Me:
She
has a crush on her boyfriend's best friend.
How
long can a good thing last? Sydney was sure Gavin was the perfect boyfriend
until he moved across the country for school. After spending more time with her
best friend, James, she’s now rethinking everything. Sydney’s once sure footing
in life slips even more as she discovers new details about her own father’s
betrayal. Scared she’ll hurt Gavin like her father hurt her, Sydney must decide
if she’ll stay with the perfect boyfriend, or the perfectly flawed boy who’s
been there all along.
Excerpt:
There is a
moment at the end of the graduation ceremony where everyone is supposed to
throw their caps. But the senior advisors told us not to. Several times. Per
minute.
“If you lose
your cap, you don’t get it back."
“If you lose
your cap, you lose your tassel.”
“If you lose
your cap, it won’t be in any of your graduation pictures.”
So, only
about half of us threw our caps. It was very anticlimactic. And then after the
ceremony, it took about half an hour to find everyone. Piper was closest.
(Madison, Piper, Morris, Sydney). It seemed appropriate though, that we ended
this together: Piper and I had been friends since first grade. We wandered
toward the exit and spotted James easily, almost a head taller than the rest of
the blue and white herd. Piper found her boyfriend, Sean, and ran to him,
throwing her arms around him and laughing. As we approached the dais, Gavin
appeared at my side.
“You did
good, man,” James praised as Gavin pulled me in.
“You did,” I
repeated from his embrace, my voice muffled by his gown.
“Thanks,”
Gavin kissed the top of my head, a few copper strands attaching themselves to
his five o’clock shadow, and then pulled on my hand. “Let’s get out of here.”
He navigated out of the doors and we stepped out into the sunlight, immediately
surrounded by parents. I glanced around at the crowd. Moms were crying, kids
were yelling, and there was a lot of hugging and photography
“I see my mom,” I exclaimed, pointing through
the crowd. “And yours,” I announced to James. “C’mon.” I let go of Gavin’s hand
and grabbed James, dragging him through the crowd. “Mom!” I shouted over the
din. Somehow she heard me and turned in my direction. She was beaming. My
sister, Whitney, was next to her, tapping the program against her leg
impatiently. I released James and threw my arms around Mom’s neck.
“Congratulations,”
she said, hugging me tightly. “You did it.” She pulled away and posed me under
a nearby tree for a picture. “Whitney,” she called, “come be in the picture.”
Whitney made a face and trudged over. She plastered a fake smile on her
face and as soon as Mom’s camera clicked she was gone again.
“James,” my
mom called. He stood between his parents, laughing at the empty diploma cover.
He turned toward us when he heard his name. She waved him over. “Come take a
picture with Sydney.” He handed his diploma to his mom and was next to me in a
matter of strides. He wrapped his arm around me and we smiled as the camera
clicked. He wrapped the other arm around me and pulled me into him.
“How you
feeling?” he asked softly.
“Weird,” I
laughed. He pulled back and nodded. For most of my high school career it had
been the five of us. Gavin, Sean, James, me, and Piper. The group had evolved
naturally during our freshman and sophomore years. Gavin and Sean had been
close since junior high school. Then Gavin and I got together after freshman
year. James had moved into my neighborhood the summer before sophomore year and
clicked immediately with all of us. And Piper and Sean hooked up at the
beginning of junior year. We were always together, at least in some
combination. But starting in the fall, that would change.
We were all
set to head our separate ways. Gavin would go to Yale in Connecticut; he was
the pride of our high school and the only one to be accepted into an Ivy League
school. Piper was headed to USC. None of us are entirely sure how she got in,
but I have a theory that it had something to do with generous donations from
her father. Sean had gotten a full scholarship to Utah State and would be
moving to Logan. James was accepted to the University of Utah, and was planning
on living at home since it was only minutes away from campus. And I was headed
north to Boise State University in Idaho to study graphic design.
“Sydney!”
Gavin yelled my name across the crowd. Sean and Piper were next to him. I
turned and smiled at him and beckoned to them.
“Come take
pictures,” I called. James stepped behind me and Gavin positioned himself on my
left side. Piper snuck in and wrapped her arm around my neck and Sean stood
next to James.
“Smile,” Mom
called. James’s mom had sidled up next to her as well, camera at the ready. I
knew that we had the whole summer before us, but there was something so final
about this moment that my breath caught momentarily in my chest. Everything was
changing.
“You want a
ride tonight?” Gavin asked me as we finished with the pictures. Sean and Piper
had disappeared and James had returned to his family. Mom and Whitney were
waiting to take me home. I nodded. “I’ll text you in a bit.” He bent down and
kissed me quickly and then he was back with his family as well.
My eyes scanned the crowd apprehensively as we walked back
to the car. Whitney shot me a look. “You know he’s not here, Syd.”
“I don’t know
what you’re talking about,” I lied quickly, shifting my eyes to my feet. I felt
Mom’s hand on my arm. “I’m fine,” I snapped, pulling away slightly, immediately
sorry. It wasn’t her fault that my dad couldn’t care less about us. He lived
out of state and only showed up very occasionally. I had hoped that maybe my
graduation would warrant a visit, but it was stupid to get my hopes up.
Something as minor as my high school graduation apparently wasn’t worth a plane
ticket.
My Book Review:
This was a thoughtful
coming of age novel covering many of the challenges facing young adults as they
prepare to leave the cocoon of safety they enjoyed in high school and go off to
college. Told in the first person, Sydney Morris is one of five tight-knit
friends who spent most of their high school years doing almost everything
together. Sydney’s personal life is also complicated by her parents’ divorce. The
story starts at the time of high school graduation, but includes flashbacks to
relevant scenes in her past life.
At graduation, the
five sense the changes that are coming in their lives even though they have the
summer ahead of them to still enjoy each other’s company. Several of them work,
Gavin is off to Yale, James will go to the local college and live at home due
to finances, Sydney’s application to her first choice of colleges, Cal Art, is
rejected, so she must settle for her second choice. All of them are facing the challenges
of moving in different directions. Sydney and Gavin face the decision of
whether or not to try to continue a long-distance relationship with him
attending college back east and her being in Idaho with the hope of eventually
transferring to California. Some relationships in the group solidify, some
drift apart, not everything is as it appears on the surface. Then there are the
complications of Sydney and her siblings dealing with their relationships with
their father.
This story is
well-written, character and situation-driven story. It held my interest as I
empathized with the difficulties and choices they faced as they solved their
individual challenges. It held my interest, it captured my empathy, and I
recommend it to readers from high school age and up.
Right Next to Me Purchase
Links:
About Rachel Ward:
Rachel grew up
reading every book she could get her hands on and spending time with her cat.
At least, that was the report in every annual Christmas letter. The
humiliation was enough to spur her into action, and she began writing.
And she never stopped. Rachel studied English at Brigham Young
University-Idaho and then wrote and blogged in between the births of her six
children. She currently lives in West Jordan with her family, and while she no
longer has a cat, she still reads every book she can get her hands on.
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