Everybody Remembers Their First Time: A Giveaway

Today I wanted to share something that means more to me than I have the ability to express with words. An experience that will stay with me forever. An experience...an experience that I want to share. My first time.

No, not that first time. I'm talking about your first book. Not necessarily the first one you've ever read, but the first book that became something...more. The first time it became more than just a book.

Everyone remembers their first time; the first book that changed it all. The characters became real. The emotions became real. It became real, and it became part of you.

The book that was responsible for igniting passion...the passion. The moment you became a reader.

Say Goodnight, Gracie by Julie Reece Deaver was that book. It was the book.

I read it for the first time when I was in 5th grade. However, it wasn't until later in life that I realized its significance. It was the first book that I ever cried during, and to this day it's one of three (The Fault in Our Stars & Taking Chances). Y'all know of my obsession and deep-seated love for best friend relationships and romance. Well, this is where it started. This is where it all started.

The last time I read Say Goodnight, Gracie was in high school. I went to the library to check it out only to find it had been taken out of circulation. That's how Say Goodnight, Gracie became my very first amazon purchase...ever. I guess you could say this is where it all started.

I no longer remember all of the details, or even if it was particularly well-written, but what I do remember is my response to it. I remember re-reading it over and over again hoping, praying that somehow the ending might change. I remember falling in love with Jimmy and wishing he was real. I remember being so connected with the story that it had me in tears. I remember this was the first book that really meant something to me. Maybe my memories of Say Goodnight, Gracie can never live up to the reality of the actual book, but the point is...I remember.

It has been a little over ten years since I've read this book, but it has never left me. So today, on my birthday, I want to share a little piece of that with you. I want to share the inspiration behind why I love to read. A story which taught me that a book is more than just words, much more!

Say Goodnight, Gracie

by Julie Reece Deaver

There are friends we can't imagine living without.

Morgan and Jimmy were kids together, whirling around the porch on hot summer days. They've been friends forever, and by now they know each other inside out. They do everything together--from cutting high school to go into the city to coaching each other at dance auditions and acting workshops. They even argue well. A perfect friendship. Best friends. For life.

So how could life be so right and then be so wrong? After a terrible accident, Morgan suddenly has to face life alone. Without Jimmy around, though, it's like the best part of her has died. How could he do this to her? And why is love so hard?

 


1989 Recommended Books for Reluctant Young Adult Readers (ALA)
1988 Young Adult Editors' Choices (BL)
Young Adult Choices for 1990 (IRA)
Children's Books of 1988 (Library of Congress)
1988 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)
Amazon 

Enter to win one of two paperback copies of Say Good Night, Gracie:  
20th Anniversary Edition.

INCLUDES US & INTERNATIONAL RESIDENTS

And since I've decided that today is everybody's birthday, stay tuned for more GIVEAWAYS!

HAPPY UNBIRTHDAY!

  

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