Hit

Lorie Ann Grover is the author of young adult novels including Hit, which Hypable calls “a powerful book about tragedy and recovery which shows you both sides of the story, for better or worse.” She has authored Loose Threads, a Booklist Top 10 Youth First Novel, and On Pointe, a Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year. As a literacy advocate, she is a co-founder of readergirlz, which was awarded the National Book Foundation’s Innovations in Reading Prize.

High-school senior Sarah McCormick loves poetry, especially when it pours from the lips of her teacher, whom the students call by his last name: Haddings. But any relationship between them is forbidden, at least until Sarah graduates. Still, Sarah writes Haddings a letter, and intends to deliver it to him at school, but on the way, she’s hit by a car, driven by Haddings himself, and is rushed to the hospital for emergency brain surgery. The story, related in present tense, alternates between Sarah Haddings’ viewpoints. Torn apart by remorse, Haddings cannot stay away from the place he is wanted the least: the surgery waiting room. A few plot devices, such as Haddings’ eavesdropping, strains credibility. The story moves swiftly, though, and the battle for control between Sarah and her mother, introduced early in the book, is well portrayed as Sarah fights the battle for her recovery. One of the most interesting and realistic facets of the story centers on the uncertain process of recovering brain function, and the accompanying emotional roller coaster of success and loss.--- Diane Colson