May 'Book Club' Column
Written by: Jody

Book Column is Portrait Magazine's latest monthly column. Each month Jody will bring you the low down on the latest and greatest teen and young adult books!

All you need is a good love story

Most of you probably know the movies ‘A Walk To Remember’ (with Mandy Moore and Shane West) and ‘The Notebook’ (starring Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling). Some of you may know that these movies are based on novels written by Nicholas Sparks. Lots of people love the movies, but haven’t read the books, which is a shame, because we are talking about two amazing pieces of writing here!

Nicholas Charles Sparks was born in Omaha, Nebraska on December 31st, 1965. When he was 20 years old, he wrote his first novel, but it was never published. In 1989 he wrote his second novel, though again, it was not published. Then in 1990, he collaborated on a book with Billy Mills, the Olympic Gold Medalist and it was published. Though it received little publicity, sales topped 50.000 copies in the first year of release. In 1994, at the age of 28, he wrote ‘The Notebook’ over a period of six months. It was published in October, 1996, and he followed that with ‘Message in a Bottle’ (1998), ‘A Walk to Remember’ (1999), ‘The Rescue’ (2000) and more books. The movie version of ‘Message in a Bottle’ was released in 1999, ‘A Walk to Remember’ in 2002, and ‘The Notebook’ was released in 2004. The average domestic box office gross per film was $56 million – with another $100 million in DVD sales – making the novels by Nicholas Sparks one of the most successfully franchises in Hollywood. (nicholassparks.com)

Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams in the adaption of 'The Notebook'

‘The Notebook’ and ‘A Walk to Remember’ have one thing in common: it are both great love stories. ‘The Notebook’ tells the story of Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson. These two North Carolina teenagers meet each other in 1932 and as soon as Noah sees Allie, he falls in love with her. Allie, who comes from a rich family with a good name, doesn’t really see much in Noah, the typical working class guy. However, Allie and Noah end up together, madly in love. They spend one idyllic summer together, but then Allie has to leave. The first time they will see each other again will be 14 years later. At that time, Allie is engaged, but she has the urge to go and see Noah one last time. Will Allie get married to someone her parents do approve of or will she and Noah continue what they started that amazing summer in 1932…?

Mandy Moore and Shane West in the adaption of 'A Walk to Remember'

‘A Walk to Remember’ is a wonderful book, that will probably make you smile, but also cry. Landon Carter is a shallow teenage boy, who spends most of his time hanging out with his friends, having fun and not taking life too seriously. Then all of a sudden, Landon ends up playing the lead in the big school play, against his will. He has to play opposite Jamie Sullivan, a religious girl who is probably the exact contrary of Landon. Jamie and Landon have to spend a lot of time with each other, which results in Landon falling in love with Jamie. But, there is something that Jamie is not telling Landon… Something that will completely change everything.

For the people who have seen the movies, try reading the books. Sometimes films are better than the stories written on paper, but in this case the books are just as good as the movies, maybe even better. The ones of you who believe in true love; these two books are a definite must-read. And for the ones of you who don’t… These two stories will hopefully make you change your mind.