This book is a great coming of age novel because it shows how life can be and how sometimes we try pushing things away; try not to remember the past. But there will always be something to bring them back to the surface. There's always something to help you grow again. When coming of age there are always things that will set you back, but those things are the things that help you grow in the first place. With people those moments could come when your 10, 14, even 26 and in between. Everybody grows up at different times; some sooner, some later.
In the book Sarah has her growing up topic as the fact that Macy lost her father but never grieved properly about it. She never cried, and was always pushing it away that memory that was always there. She was living what she thought was a perfect life; but in reality it had all the flaws possible. In the book Sarah even portrayed a sense of growing up about Macy's mother who didn't grieve as well, and just buried herself in her work. The only one who made it through the best was Caroline, Macy's older sister, she cried and cried and then moved on. She didn't push away the past. She let herself be sad; she let herself remember.
When Caroline was Macy's age she was incredibly rebellious. Grown up now she doesn't regret that time period of her life. Although she's no longer like that she believes that every teen need a bit of rebellion to use so that they wouldn't miss out when they were older. She believed having a sense of rebellion was a big factor in the process of growing. In the book Sarah wrote "'But it's also about living. You can't hide behind work forever, you know. I mean, when was the last time you and Macy took a vacation or did something nice for yourselves?' 'I was at the coast just a couple of weeks ago.' 'For work,' Caroline said. 'You work late into the night, you get up early in the morning, you don't do anything but think about the development. Macy never goes out with friends, she spends all her time holed up studying, and she's not going to be seventeen forever---' 'I'm fine,' I said. My sister looked at me, her face softening. 'I know you are,' she said. 'But i just worry about you. I feel like your missing out something you won't be able to get back later.' 'Not everyone needs a social life like you had, Caroline,' my mother said. 'Macy's focused on school, and her grades are excellent. She has a wonderful boyfriend. Just because she's not drinking beer at two in the morning doesn't mean she isn't living a full life.' 'I'm not saying her life isn't full,' Caroline said. 'I just think she's awfully young to be so serious about everything.'"(chapter 6 pg 109). And so there are other moments in the book that show the issue but this is one.
Sarah Dessen did a wonderful job showing stages of growing up,, and just how difficult it could be. She showed one scenario of a situation where you have to over come and grow as a person. But she also showed how you need other people to help you through. How the right people can change everything and you not even know it yet. To live and to grow with a little help will give you the strength to finally be able to call yourself mature, an adult, is quite the process, and no matter how difficult if you just push through you'll be okay.
