The Gap Year is a novel by Sarah Bird that hit a little close to home. With my daughter starting high school, I am aware that we are going to be facing college decisions before I know it. I also know all too well — from both my experience as a teen and seeing glimpses of my daughter as she’s growing up — that daughters do what they want, not always what their parents want them to do.
Cam and Aubrey have been on their own since she Aubrey was a toddler when dad/husband severed all ties with them to join a cult. They’ve been close, but in Aubrey’s senior year, that seems to be changing. She drops out of band, gets a boyfriend, and suddenly Cam is out of the loop completely.
The Gap Year is told in alternating chapters from Aubrey’s and Cam’s points of view, which I really enjoyed. At first, I did not find Cam to be a very sympathetic character. She seemed whiny and weak to me, but that definitely changed as her character developed. Being the mother of a teen daughter is a powerless position, but it was contrasted nicely with the power she had in her job as a lactation consultant, where she could solve the problems she was given.
Aubrey is a teenager. Teenagers are generally not known for their wise, mature decisions. My heart ached for her, but I had compassion for her, because she’s a teenager. She knows that she’s in love, and in spite of her and her mother’s plans, she can’t even think about going off to college. There are too many uncertainties for her to buckle down and make a decision as big as that. She’s not even sure that’s what she wants.
The characters are well-drawn and it helps the novel move along, but there’s definitely a plot here. Uncovering what’s going on with Tyler (husband/father) and even delving deeper into football hero/boyfriend Ty proves that we can’t take people on face value.
The Gap Year is a good mother/daughter story with a surprise love story (as well as that all-consuming look at first love). I could actually see a mother reading it with her teen daughter and discussing the two viewpoints.
Melissa Mc says
I’ve always wanted to read her book The Flamenco Academy (I think that’s the name?!)…but never got around to it.