Author: Lisa Scottoline
Publisher: St. Martins Press
Date Pulbished: April 12, 2011
Pages: Hardcover- 384
Summary: Rose McKenna volunteers as a lunch mom in her daughter Melly’s school in order to keep an eye on Amanda, a mean girl who’s been bullying her daughter. Her fears come true when the bullying begins, sending Melly to the bathroom in tears. Just as Rose is about to follow after her daughter, a massive explosion goes off in the kitchen, sending the room into chaos. Rose finds herself faced with the horrifying decision of whether or not to run to the bathroom to rescue her daughter or usher Amanda to safety. She believes she has accomplished both, only to discover that Amanda, for an unknown reason, ran back into the school once out of Rose's sight. In an instance, Rose goes from hero to villain as the small community blames Amanda’s injuries on her. In the days that follow, Rose's life starts to fall to pieces, Amanda’s mother decides to sue, her marriage is put to the test, and worse, when her daughter returns to school, the bullying only intensifies. Rose must take matters into her own hands and get down to the truth of what really happened that fateful day in order to save herself, her marriage and her family.
Review: I have been reading Lisa Scottoline's novels for years; she writes suspenseful, mysterious reads with plots that will have a person gasping for air until the last sentence is read. Her latest style and genre has taken a slight turn, but in a good way! Lisa still continues to give that reader the intense, thrilling feel but real life controversial subject matters are put into play.
I enjoy reading about controversial topics and seeing how an author incorporates or makes it into his or her own story. And in the end seeing how the outcome of that controversy takes place. In Save Me, the subject matter are two ideas: bullying and the question, "If you can only save one person, then who's child should you save, yours or somebody else's?"
Melly is an 8 year old who is bullied due to a large birthmark that sets her apart from the other peers in her class. I believe that Lisa did a fabulous job at portraying a young girl who is innocent and interested in little girl things (okay, maybe not barbie dolls & fashion, but Harry Potter! Who can blame her!) but at the same time she understands that she doesn't fit in.
Melly's mother Rose does what any mother would do. She volunteers at the school so that she can keep an extra eye on her daughter. Meanwhile, a tragic even happens that leaves Rose with the decision to take the children who have been bullying her daughter outside to the playground where they can be safe, or go find her Melly before it's too late. She quickly reacts and tries to get all the children to safety. Unbeknownst to Rose, not every child she tried to help made it out of the school building unharmed. Rose has to juggle between being a Hero Mom- saving her own daughter and being a villain who chose her daughter over others.
Rose's character changed throughout the book and I loved that about her. Her overall personality shifted. She doesn't stand back from the crowd near the end of the novel anymore. She takes charge and does all she can to figure out who caused the tragic events that started at Reesburgh school.
Events begin to take place that unravels important information. Information that most people would overlook, but Rose has her heart set on getting down to the bottom of this mysterious explosion. The one that she has been potentially blamed for by student parents because she chose to save her daughter over others. Believe me, when you think everything is just starting to settle down---new surprises arise!!! ;-)
This book was creative and pieced together so well. I enjoyed Save Me by Lisa Scottoline and look forward to seeing where she goes next with a new novel.
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