Wherever You Go by Heather Davis

The 411 By Maria:
Holly lost her boyfriend Rob in a car accident that almost took her life. Her mom works hard and is never home and she takes care of her younger sister. You would think with a near death experience, the loss of a boyfriend and play mom to her younger sister would be enough but nope, her mom moves her grandfather into the house because his Alzheimers is getting worse. Rob's best friend Jason takes in interest in Holly and eventually she starts leaning on him. He is from a well to do family and she isn't sure that his feeling are real, if she should be feeling something for him or if he is just taking care of his friend Rob's girlfriend.

Jason comes from a well to do family and misses his friend Rob.

Rob, can only be seen by poor Grandpa Aldo who everyone thinks is seeing things. Rob isn't sure why he is still here and is hoping Aldo can help him figure it out. He didn't see the light and isn't sure how he feels about his friend and Holly getting closer.

This story is an interesting concept and I enjoyed the way the story is told from three different perspectives; Holly, Jason and Rob. A different character takes the lead in each chapter. Nicely done!

The story of Rob watching life go on without him and wondering why he was left here was depressing at first. The scenes of him watching his parents go through his room to pack his things with his mother breaking down into his shirt was hard. As a mom it was something that hurt my heart.

Aldo, Rob and Holly were my favorite characters. Holly is a strong role model for girls and I liked when she finally stood up to her mother and left the house but not before telling her mother that everything was OK but she would have to come home because Holly was leaving Aldo and her sister sleeping. Her mother needed to smacked into reality and it helped her reinstate her relationship with her father Aldo. Aldo telling her he just wants her to "really see him" killed me.

The book ran the emotional mile (life, death, aging). We had a selfish mother, a selfless daughter, a fighting grandfather (he was a pistol when he was there), a "real" friend in Jason who was there for Holly when she had no support from anyone. He was someone she could lean on and poor Rob who had to come to terms with his life and the way he was living it in order to cross over.

Overall, well written.