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A review by jennifermreads
Just One Day by Gayle Forman
5.0
Admittedly, I will read anything that Gayle Forman writes. I devoured her last two novels, If I Stay and Where She Went . So it is no surprise that I simply adored Just One Day—and read it in just one day!
For as long as she can remember, every minute of every day of Allyson's life has been planned and organized. Even her whirlwind tour of Europe consisted of a structured group moving in mass from museum to monument to meals. On the last day of the tour, the tour is in Stratford scheduled to attend a Royal Shakespeare Theater performance of Hamlet. While the group waits to enter the theater, a ragtag troupe of actors walks down the line handing out flyers: “Guerilla Will. Shakespeare Without Borders. Shakespeare Unleashed. Shakespeare for Free. Shakespeare for All.” On an impulse, Allyson drags her friend Melanie off to see this rogue production of Twelfth Night. At the performance's end, the actor playing Sebastian, Willem, tosses her a coin and, later, an invitation to spend one miraculous day and night in Paris. But, at the end of the amazing night...Willem is gone!
Allyson spends the next year searching for herself and maybe even true love.
The story is told in such a relaxing, lyrical voice that the reader will feel like they are sitting in a coffee house chatting with Allyson about her journey. The descriptions of Allyson's travels through Paris will take you to those places—a bonus armchair travelogue. The multiple allusions to various William Shakespeare plays was an added bonus for any lover of Shakespeare—and made me think of what a wonderful tool this book would be to help students with a basic understanding of his plays' themes as well as draw others into Shakespeare's magnificent worlds.
Just One Day is an amazing voyage of self-discovery both metaphorically and physically. I eagerly await the release of Just One Year, told from Willem's viewpoint, which is slated for release October 2013. If this companion novel is anything like the format of Where She Went, the reader will get Willem's view of the events that occur in Just One Day while also revealing more about Willem and taking the reader on new adventures.
* Review also published in Livermore Public Library March 2013 Staff Picks *
For as long as she can remember, every minute of every day of Allyson's life has been planned and organized. Even her whirlwind tour of Europe consisted of a structured group moving in mass from museum to monument to meals. On the last day of the tour, the tour is in Stratford scheduled to attend a Royal Shakespeare Theater performance of Hamlet. While the group waits to enter the theater, a ragtag troupe of actors walks down the line handing out flyers: “Guerilla Will. Shakespeare Without Borders. Shakespeare Unleashed. Shakespeare for Free. Shakespeare for All.” On an impulse, Allyson drags her friend Melanie off to see this rogue production of Twelfth Night. At the performance's end, the actor playing Sebastian, Willem, tosses her a coin and, later, an invitation to spend one miraculous day and night in Paris. But, at the end of the amazing night...Willem is gone!
Allyson spends the next year searching for herself and maybe even true love.
The story is told in such a relaxing, lyrical voice that the reader will feel like they are sitting in a coffee house chatting with Allyson about her journey. The descriptions of Allyson's travels through Paris will take you to those places—a bonus armchair travelogue. The multiple allusions to various William Shakespeare plays was an added bonus for any lover of Shakespeare—and made me think of what a wonderful tool this book would be to help students with a basic understanding of his plays' themes as well as draw others into Shakespeare's magnificent worlds.
Just One Day is an amazing voyage of self-discovery both metaphorically and physically. I eagerly await the release of Just One Year, told from Willem's viewpoint, which is slated for release October 2013. If this companion novel is anything like the format of Where She Went, the reader will get Willem's view of the events that occur in Just One Day while also revealing more about Willem and taking the reader on new adventures.
* Review also published in Livermore Public Library March 2013 Staff Picks *