#FRC2014 Review: Hit by Lorie Ann Grover

Title: Hit
Author: Lorie Ann Grover
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Blink
Publish Date: October 7, 2014
Source: BookSparks Fall Reading Challenge

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "After receiving a full-ride scholarship to Mills College for Girls, it appears Sarah's future is all laid out before her that is until she walks into a poetry class led by Mr. Haddings, a student teacher from the nearby University of Washington. Suddenly, life on the UW campus seems very appealing, and Sarah finds herself using her poetry journal to subtly declare her feelings for Haddings. Convinced Mr. Haddings is flirting back, she sets off for school in the rain with a poem in her back pocket one that will declare her feelings once and for all.

Mr. Haddings has noticed Sarah's attention; the fallout from any perceived relationship with a student is too great a risk, and he has decided to end all speculation that morning.

But everything changes when Mr. Haddings feels a thud on his front bumper when he glances away from the road, and finds Sarah in the street with blood pooling beneath her.""

My Two Cents:

"Hit" is a young adult book about Sarah, a teen who is enamored with her student teacher, Mr. Haddings. She memorizes all of the poetry that they discuss in his class and she dreams of being able to take their relationship to the next level. He wants that too. In a twist of fate, early one morning, Mr. Haddings runs Sarah over with his car and this will set in motion the major action in the book where Sarah is in the hospital trying to cope with how much her life has changed. This is a very unique and at times, heart-wrenching story.

We don't get to know much about who Sarah and Mr. Haddings are outside of the main action of Sarah being hit by Mr. Haddings's car. We don't really get to know what kind of people they are or even how their relationship truly was throughout the book. There just is not a lot of detail there and I found myself wishing that there was more detail so we could get to know the characters a little better in this book.

I really liked how this story was told. The author jumps almost right into the action, which pulled me in right away. Each chapter is listed with a time so we can see how quickly everything is happening and changing. We see how Mr. Haddings struggles with his emotions. How should he act when he sees Sarah? Will she even want to see him? How will her family feel? We see Sarah just struggling to get better while the dreams of college seem to be slipping away. There is a ton of emotion packed into this relatively small book that makes for a worthy read.