I Was Here

  

      I Was Here, by Gayle Forman, is a beautiful YA novel about the often taboo subject of suicide. Cody and Meg are inseparable, but when Meg goes off to college and commits suicide, Cody is blindsided and can't come to terms with Meg's death. She sets off on a wild adventure to discover why Meg did this and try and bring justice to Meg's death. Cody discovers that Meg had a whole hidden life in Seattle at school, and even a secret life in their time home town. She finds out about Ben, the boy Meg had sex with; about the cats Pete and Repeat that Meg rescued; and finally about the pro-suicide forums that Meg frequented in the days leading up to her planned death. She tracks down a man Meg talked to often who encouraged her to "catch the bus," aka kill herself. But Meg also discovers herself on this trip, as someone independent from the pod of Cody and Meg, and comes to terms with Meg's death after talking to her second family, Meg's family, about everything she found.
      Forman set me on a roller coaster of an adventure through this novel, I was hooked from page one, lost the strong connection of the book after a bit, and gained it back that led me off smiling as I finished the book. Not only does this novel cover suicide, this novel touches on relationships, religion, family life and ore. This is a fantastic coming of age novel that I encourage anyone to read. It doesn't weigh down on you, yet it keeps a trained focus on the serious topic at hand. It is moving, it is brilliant, it is daring.