The Truth About Forever (2004) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Characters edit see section history

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• Macy Queen: Macy is the protagonist of this book. In a relationship with Jason. Works at the library acting in Jason's stead while he is away at camp. After a party her mom threw, catered by Wish Catering Company, on a whim she decides to join their team and along the way learns a lot about Delia, Kristy, Monica, Wes, Bert, and herself.
• Deborah Queen: Caroline and Macy's mother. Works a lot. Does not want to remember her husband's death. Buries her grief in her work
• Jason Talbot: Macy's boyfriend. Extremely smart and focused. Works at the library. At camp for the summer. He is the perfect person that Macy has tried to shape herself into his life.
• Caroline Queen: Macy's sister, married to a man ten years her senior. An art major.
• Delia: Delia is the pregnant owner of Wish Catering, as well as Wes and Bert's aunt. Her focus is like a wave, sometimes strong and then seconds later not.
• Kristy Palmetto: Kristy is one of the servers for Wish Catering who's most notable features are scars that decorate her face, and her clothing style.
• Monica Palmetto: Kristy's less flamboyant sister, an accident-prone server for Wish Catering. Nicknamed Monotone she only has a few phrases she speaks.
• Wes Baker: Wes is Delia's older nephew who works for Wish Catering. All the girls always look at him because he is really hot but he doesn't notice it at all.
• Bert Baker: Wes's younger brother. His ultimate dream is to have his very own "Bertmobile" to attract all the ladies. He also likes to keep up to date on the Apocalypse.
• Amanda: A library clerk Macy works with during the summer. She is anything but friendly to Macy.
• Lucy: Delia's oldest daughter.
• Pete: Delia's husband.
• Becky: Wes's girlfriend. They met in jail.
• Avery: Delia's daughter

Quotes edit see section history

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• “Then," Kristy continued, nodding at her, "life was very short, literally. But now that I'm better, it seems so long I have to squint to see even the edges of it. It's all in the view, Macy. That's what I mean about forever, too. For any one of us our forever could end in an hour, or a hundred years from now. You can never know for sure, so you'd better make every second count.”

  Kristy

• “Okay", I said, "what's your biggest fear?""Clowns," he said."Clowns.""Yup." I just looked at him."What?" he said, glancing over at me."That is not a real answer," I told him."Says who?""Says me. I meant a real fear, like of failure, of death, of regret. Like that. Something that keeps you awake nights, questioning your very existence." He thought for a second. "Clowns."”

  Macy and Wes

• “That was the thing. You never got used to it, the idea of someone being gone. Just when you think it's reconciled, accepted, someone points it out to you and it just hits you all over again, that shocking.”

  Macy (narrating)

• “The first few steps are the hardest.”

  Macy's father

• “"An unrequited love is so much better than a real one.I mean, it's perfect." "Nothing's perfect," I said."Nothing real," she replied. "But as long as something is never even started, you never have to worry about it ending. It has endless potential."”

  Kristy Palmetto

• “Events conspired to bring you back to where you'd been. It was what you did then that made all the difference: it was all about potential.”

  Macy Queen

• “"He raised his eyebrows, confused, and I added--face flushing, God help me--'your tattoo, I mean. I've never been able to see what it is.' This full sentence, an inquiry to boot, seemed to me on par with Hellen Keller finally signing W-A-T-E-R. I mean, really."”

  Macy Queen

• “"That was the thing about being on the inside: the world was just going on, even when it seemed like time for you had stopped for good. I was bored. Sad. Lonely. It was only a matter of time before I cracked."”

  Macy Queen

• “"But as long as something is never even started, you never have to worry about it ending. It has endless potential."”

  Kristy

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• For any one of us our forever could end in an hour, or a hundred years from now. You can never know for sure, so you’d better make every second count.”

  Highlighted by 364 Kindle customers

• Anyone can hide. Facing up to things, working through them, that’s what makes you strong.”

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• “It’s not that I believe everything happens for a reason,” she said. “It’s just that . . . I just think that some things are meant to be broken. Imperfect. Chaotic. It’s the universe’s way of providing contrast, you know? There have to be a few holes in the road. It’s how life is.”

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• Forever was so many different things. It was always changing, it was what everything was really all about. It was twenty minutes, or a hundred years, or just this instant, or any instant I wished would last and last. But there was only one truth about forever that really mattered, and that was this: it was happening. Right then, as I ran with Wes into that bright sun, and every moment afterwards. Look, there. Now. Now. Now.

  Highlighted by 235 Kindle customers

• “There is never,” Kristy said adamantly, “a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment.”

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• Grief can be a burden, but also an anchor. You get used to the weight, to how it holds you to a place.

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• “But if everything was always smooth and perfect,” she continued, “you’d get too used to that, you know? You have to have a little bit of disorganization now and then. Otherwise, you’ll never really enjoy it when things go right.

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• Just because someone’s pretty doesn’t mean she’s decent. Or vice versa. I’m not into appearances. I like flaws, I think they make things interesting.”

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• “What you have to decide,” Kristy said to me, leaning forward, “is how you want your life to be. If your forever was ending tomorrow, would this be how you’d want to have spent it?”

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• Like life isn’t complicated enough. You should at least be able to follow the signs.”

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First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• Nobody's perfect, things change, be yourself, and let the past be the past, you never know whats around that next bend: Describe this theme.

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Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Sarah Dessen (Author) - is an American writer who lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• ALA Best Book for Young Adults (2005, #2)

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Sarah Dessen writes for young adults and the themes of this book are eary enough to understand and there is not much that is inappropiate. Teaches girls that while school is very important, it is not all there is to life.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Teens › Authors, A-Z › ( D ) › Dessen, Sarah
• Books › Teens › Social Issues › Being a Teen
• Books › Teens › Literature & Fiction › Love & Romance

More Books Like This edit see section history