If I Stay by Gayle Forman

       Over the course of the year 2018 I have read many interesting books going from realistic fantasy to a thriller. The books that stood out to me the most was the book If I Stay by Gayle Forman. 

The genre of If I Stay is fantasy because it is about a girl whose spirit is trying to decide whether she lives or dies.y If I Stay starts off with 17 year old Mia Hall. Mia is a senior in high school who loves to play classical music on her cello, despite her punk rock family and boyfriend Adam. One day she and her family are in their car driving outside in a blizzard. They get into a freak car accident. Her entire family dies in this accident including her younger brother Teddy. Afterwards Mia realizes that she is a spirit. She is wandering the hospital while her physical body is in a coma at the hospital. She watches as her grandparents, best friend Kim, and Adam visit her praying to god that she lives. Her grandmother begs her to come back to life while her grandfather tells her that he wants her to live but it was fine if Mia chose to move on with her family.Mia now has to make a choice; Does she want to stay alive with Kim, Adam and her grandparents? or Does she want to die and move on with her deceased family? 
Overall, this book is amazing because of it's keen drama, it's sentiment and emotions and also it's interesting plot.For example in the scene where Mia realizes that she is a spirit. This is one of the most drama influenced scenes because it is the moment where she realizes that she isn't dead because she cannot walk through walls but she also isn't alive because no one can see her.One of the most emotional moments in If I Stay is when Mia watches her grandparents begging her to come back and how she watches her friend  Kim (who doesn't believe in god) asking to let her previous mistakes be forgotten and help her friend live again. It is interesting because of it's peculiar ploy.Who doesn't get intrigued by a spirit who is trying to decide if she should live or die.It keeps up the action by showing various memories past and present that can easily tip her to wanting to live or die.I would recommend this book to seventh and eighth graders.I also would recommend this book to anyone to likes fantasy and drama.If I Stay also has a sequel called Where She Went.
-Anushka G.