“It's just so out of control. Life, I mean. The way it flies off in all these different directions without your permission,” The book How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr teaches the reader that there is always hope because life changes all the time. Sara Zarr really connects with teens that have experienced traumatizing experiences. The two main characters, Jill and Mandy, have went through very complex emotions, but they don't know that. Jill used to treat Mandy with such frustration and anger, however, once she learned about Mandy's past, she realized that what she went through, is nothing like Mandy's. Sara Zarr also shows that to relate to a person, or to help, you must need to fully understand their stories.
“My whole life has been one big broken promise,” Sara Zarr directly speaks to the audience here. You can hear her voice, this shows that, although most abandoned teens think they are alone, they aren't. Mandy, who is a pregnant teen, feels she has been left, she feels empty. “Sometimes trust isn’t something you can just choose to do even if it makes sense. All my life the only reliable person, the one I could count on, the one who hasn’t abandoned me, is me,” Mandy didn't feel like she belonged. Her mother treated her like a stranger, her step-dad treated her like a slave. Mandy wanted to give up her baby to Jill's mother, Robin, she wanted to give the baby a better life. Zarr shows, at the end of the book, that there is ALWAYS hope. When Mandy thought it was all over, she saw the light at the other side of the tunnel. Mandy didn't want to give up her baby because she knew it was the only thing that wouldn't abandon her. Jill understood the idea of abandonment, she tells her mom that it was Mandy that needed a mother, and she was right. Mandy kept her baby, but also got a caring mother. Zarr teaches the readers that ANYTHING can happen. There's always a rainbow at the end of a storm. Mandy's baby was her rainbow.
Love is weird, anything can happen to it. It makes you depressed, it's frustrating and it's irritating. But, for a period of time, whether long or shot, it brings joy. Optimism. Smiles. For a long time, Jill has been looking for the RIGHT one. She had a boyfriend, but the connection with her boyfriend was unbearable. It was like a light switch. On and off. Both of them realized they could never be happy, and Jill wanted to give up. She felt truly abandoned. No dad, no boyfriend, basically no mother. But there it was, that light at the other end of the tunnel. The ray of sunshine. Hope. Jill found the one she needed. The one that can make her happy again. Zarr shows that anything can happen, as long as you wait. Good things happen to those who wait.
Connecting to the real world, Zarr wanted to teach teens that hope is all you need. Even if it is all crushed at the end, having hope can allow you to do anything. Zarr teaches the abandoned teens and the pregnant teens that ANYTHING can happen. Mandy started off as an empty, pregnant, uneducated teen with a fake family, however, she found herself, and a caring family. Jill lost her dad, she was in grief, she was depressed for a long time, however, she found love, she found a sister, she found her mother. She found her happiness. At the end, although all stories don't end with a happy ending, having hope can always lead to your sunshine.
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