Don't Hate the Player...Hate the Game by Katie Ashley

I went to a super small high school - 400 or so kids in the entire district K-12.  It seemed like every year we lost a senior, car accident, boating accident, suicide... it almost felt commonplace in my school. The years we didn't have a death, someone had a baby instead!  Though I thankfully never lost one of my close friends this way I think my experiences really helped me connect with Noah.  

My heart ached for Noah as he came to terms with the shocking death of his best friend, Jake.  When Jake's mom asked Noah to find the girl her son was in love with and had planed on proposing to my heart broke even more.  I was honestly worried that the process of finding his best friends "one" would drag out Noah's grief and pain.  Thankfully I was wrong, but a whole side of Jake came to light after his death that no one, especially Noah, seemed to understand or accept.

Noah spends a lot of time with Maddie and finds out a lot of things he never knew about Jake.  There is a lot I could say about Maddie, the preachers daughter, but Maddie should experienced, not explained.

I loved the relationship between Noah and his mom.  He may put on a "tough guy" act, but Noah is all Mama's boy!  I hope that if I ever have a little boy that he love me as much as Noah loves his mom.  He might not always show it but Noah is dedicated to his mom and looks up to her almost reverently.  He truly appreciates the sacrifices she made in order to give him a happy life despite being only 17 when she had him and her drive to still make it though medical school to become an ob/gyn.

Great book for any summer reading list!