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How to Save a Life

by Sara Zarr

Two young women facing change

Regular price $17.88 USD
Regular price $27.94 USD Sale price $17.88 USD
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AlbakiReads Editorial

Two young women facing change

Sara Zarr’s novel brings together Jill, grieving the death of her father, and Mandy, a pregnant teen determined to offer her baby a different start. Jill’s mother is preparing to adopt, a decision Jill experiences through the upheaval of her own loss; Mandy, meanwhile, is weighing her child’s future alongside her uncertainty about finding care and belonging herself. Pregnancy, bereavement, adoption, and the shifting shape of family connect their stories. The book places questions of support and responsibility alongside the difficulty of adapting when a family’s circumstances change.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Teens and young adults interested in fiction about pregnancy and family relationships.
  • Readers seeking a story that addresses grief, adoption, and belonging.

Themes

Pregnancy and parenthoodGrief and lossAdoption and family changeBelonging and support

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

Jill MacSweeney just wishes everything could go back to normal. But ever since her dad died, she's been isolating herself from her boyfriend, her best friends -- everyone who wants to support her. When her mom decides to adopt a baby, it feels like she's somehow trying to replace a lost family member with a new one.

Mandy Kalinowski understands what it's like to grow up unwanted -- to be raised by a mother who never intended to have a child. So when Mandy becomes pregnant, one thing she's sure of is that she wants a better life for her baby. It's harder to be sure of herself. Will she ever find someone to care for her, too?

As their worlds change around them, Jill and Mandy must learn to both let go and hold on, and that nothing is as easy -- or as difficult -- as it seems.

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