What Happened to Goodbye
Title: What Happened to Goodbye
Author: Sarah Dessen
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Number of Pages: 402 (hardcover)
Advertised Age Level: Ages 12 and up
Age and Grade of Main Character(s): 16/11th grade
Language: none
Sex: none
Drug/Alcohol Use: main character attends a party with drinking but does not drink herself
Violence: none
Social Issues: divorce, parent cheats on other parent, identity issues
Suggested Movie Grade: PG
Premise: With every move that McLean and her father make as he follows his restaurant consulting job, McLean takes the opportunity to re-invent herself. She’s been the peppy cheerleader girl, the emo drama princess, and the school joiner, each identity complete with its own unique name. But with the latest move to Lakeview, McLean finds that the hardest role she’s ever attempted has been that of herself, without any personae to hide behind. As she begins to make friends and put down roots, she starts to accept herself just as she is.
Potential Points of Concern: McLean’s parents divorced after McLean’s mother began an extra-marital affair with another man.
McLean and her mother do not get along.
McLean runs away when her past is revealed to her friends, sending her parents into a panic.
Age Appropriateness: 12 +
