The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

Yeah, I know I missed the movie, but I finally had a chance to read The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks now that school is out.   As of now, it is my favorite of Sparks’ books.  Of course, that may change with the next one I read. For me, each of his books are a visit home.  For someone he didn’t grow up in eastern North Carolina, he certainly captures the flavor of the setting of my childhood.   While reading The Last Song, I felt like I was back at my uncle’s trailer in Surf City on Topsail Island.  I remember seeing turtle tracks in the sand, but I never guarded a nest like Ronnie did.

Ronnie is less than happy to spend the summer with her dad and little brother Jonah in a sleepy beach town near Wilmington.  She has spent the last three years refusing to speak to her dad–or have anything to do with the music they shared–because he left his family after her parents’ divorce.  Even though she and her mom constantly fight, Ronnie would rather be hanging out in the clubs of New York City than be bored to tears in the South. 

Within her first few days at the beach, Ronnie finds herself the focus of two very different guys.  Will is definitely not her type–a popular volleyball player who could have his pick of girls at the beach.  Marcus seems to be more her style with his tattoos, but there is something seriously disturbing about him.  Within her first week in town, Ronnie finds herself accused of shoplifting signed classic rock 45s from a music store–a crime that she really didn’t commit this time.  Underneath the tough girl exterior and seething anger, is a gentler side of Ronnie–one that breaks up fights to protect a small child and one that sleeps out on the dunes to protect  a nest of sea turtle eggs.

The events of this summer change the course of Ronnie’s life, but will it be too late to right the wrongs she has done?  As she learns, you can’t get back lost time.  All you can do is move forward.  At it’s heart, The Last Song is a love story, but not just a romance.  Ronnie’s summer echoes the greatest love story ever told–that of God’s love for us. 

By the last few chapters, I was sobbing aloud as I read it.  My daughter asked me what was wrong, and I answered, “He died.” (No, I’m not telling you who died.)  She responded that he’s not real.  You don’t have to cry.  I know he’s not real, but some characters come to life on the page.  Which characters seem real to you when you read about them?

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