LitPick Review
Relocating is one of the hardest things any teenager could go through, especially in final year of high school. Ever The Same by Michelle Wishner is about a teenager named Sam. Sam’s parents decided to move closer to Mr Taylor’s (Sam’s father) place of work, making it easier for the family to have enough family time. They used to be a very close family which ended when Sam heard her parents were considering relocating without considering her opinion or feelings about it. She couldn’t imagine leaving her hometown where she has been all her life. The thoughts of leaving her best friend Becky, leaving her comfort zone, and starting high school in a new environment scares her. She kept begging her parents to let her commute to her former school from their new home, but her parents were against it, saying it was going to be too hard for her and they don’t want her going through that stress as it was a 45 minutes drive without traffic and two hours with traffic. Sam promised to become invisible in her new school. That changed when she had new experiences and the two hottest boys in school fighting for her attention. She made new relationships which changed her life. She met Conner, one of the boys who became her lifeline. What did Sam do that made her unable to stay under the radar as she promised? How and why did Conner become her lifeline? Read the book to find out how Sam’s life in high school played out.
Opinion:
Ever The Same is a very interesting book. It keeps getting more interesting in every chapter. I could imagine what Sam has to go through because I also experienced such. Imagine moving to a place where you don’t know anyone. The thoughts of starting over again is a depressing one. The story talked about friendship, romance, and bravery. I could have just said it was talking mainly about relationships, but the bravery Sam and Conner showed can’t be denied. Sam was sexually harassed by a guy she thought loved her. She was still able to go to school, talk about it, and even fell in love again. Conner was able to fight for his friend and lover when she got sexually harassed. He didn’t even think about the punishment that comes with that.
Sam had the greatest group of friends from Becky down to Jesse, Racheal, and Lynn, who were all there for her. Talking about Conner, I could feel the spark between Sam and him from the story. Everything felt real like it was happening right in front of me. I could even imagine the waves of the ocean described in the scene in Chapter 13 of the book. Sam was at Conner’s house and they decided to take a walk. They sat on a pair of loungers with drinks, sitting quietly and staring at the ocean. It indeed was therapeutic for me. As I said, everything in the story appeared real to me. Not to forget, I enjoyed the playlist given at the end. The song ‘Ever The Same’ really got me giggling. It was indeed Conner’s little message to Sam.
I would like to give an advice to any teenager out there to stop overthinking and just do you. Make friends and live your life well. Life comes with different lessons, day by day. Don’t forget to be brave like Sam and Conner.
