SEPTEMBER 2014 - AudioFile
Amy, a high school senior with cerebral palsy, uses a talking board to communicate. Rebecca Lowman’s gift for nuance flavors the narrative and Amy’s dialogue with humor, wit, hidden desires, delight, and sometimes despair. Amy’s isolated life changes when she’s allowed to choose peer caretakers, one of whom is Matthew. Matthew’s obsessive-compulsive disorder has made him an equal outcast, and Lowman expresses both the torment of his insecurities and the way his hopelessness shifts when Amy drives him to betterment. These sensitive portrayals are strengthened by Lowman’s skill in evoking the intensity of Matthew and Amy’s struggles to be themselves and, at the same time, find a path to a genuine relationship. Ultimately, Lowman lets listeners feel the full triumph of their hard-won love. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
From the Publisher
In Cammie McGovern’s debut novel Say What You Will, Amy and Matthew will break your heart and then with their resiliency and wit and ardor put it back together. This is a book to read, savor, and pass on and on until it has gone around the world twice.” — Ron Koertge, author of Stoner & Spaz
“A unique an unforgettable love.” — Teen Vogue
“Exhilarating and heartrending. With a smart, proud, and capable protagonist eager to take her life by the reins, this novel is stunning.” — ALA Booklist (starred review)
“McGovern avoids gooeyness or condescension by making Amy and Matthew individuals, not diagnoses, and their relationship not just plausible, but suspenseful. Watching Amy and Matthew grapple with big questions, readers will be surprised, moved, amused, worried, hopeful, and grateful to have spent time with them.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“McGovern’s triumph is how well she normalizes and highlights the variety of disability experiences among teens and their often circuitous journeys toward claiming their voices and right to self-determination. Ultimately, a deeply engaging and rewarding story.” — Kirkus Reviews
“What this book does best is move beyond the typical concerns and stigmas people with disabilities inevitably encounter to present an honest portrayal of the difficulties of growing up faced by these particular characters.” — Horn Book
“Cammie McGovern channels her knowledge and passion for special needs kids in Say What You Will. Like the deservedly best-selling Wonder by R.J. Palacio—required reading for every family—this doesn’t just get you talking, it gets you thinking, feeling and rejoicing” — Family Circle
“A beautifully written story about two teens who find each other in spite of what might seem like insurmountable problems.” — Examiner.com (Five star review)
“It’s a little bit ‘Perks of Being a Wallflower,’ a little bit ‘Eleanor & Park’ and a lot of something else entirely. A young adult book with grown-up lessons.” — Metro US
“Cammie McGovern crafts a story that takes a realistic look at people who have disabilities but who are not their disability. This story isn’t about rescuing anyone. It is about setting aside fears, limitations, and appearances, and taking a chance at opening up. Everyone should meet Amy and Matt.” — Hypable.com
Family Circle
Cammie McGovern channels her knowledge and passion for special needs kids in Say What You Will. Like the deservedly best-selling Wonder by R.J. Palacio—required reading for every family—this doesn’t just get you talking, it gets you thinking, feeling and rejoicing
Teen Vogue
A unique an unforgettable love.
Horn Book
What this book does best is move beyond the typical concerns and stigmas people with disabilities inevitably encounter to present an honest portrayal of the difficulties of growing up faced by these particular characters.
Metro US
It’s a little bit ‘Perks of Being a Wallflower,’ a little bit ‘Eleanor & Park’ and a lot of something else entirely. A young adult book with grown-up lessons.
ALA Booklist (starred review)
Exhilarating and heartrending. With a smart, proud, and capable protagonist eager to take her life by the reins, this novel is stunning.
Ron Koertge
In Cammie McGovern’s debut novel Say What You Will, Amy and Matthew will break your heart and then with their resiliency and wit and ardor put it back together. This is a book to read, savor, and pass on and on until it has gone around the world twice.
Hypable.com
Cammie McGovern crafts a story that takes a realistic look at people who have disabilities but who are not their disability. This story isn’t about rescuing anyone. It is about setting aside fears, limitations, and appearances, and taking a chance at opening up. Everyone should meet Amy and Matt.
Examiner.com (Five star review)
A beautifully written story about two teens who find each other in spite of what might seem like insurmountable problems.
Hypable
Cammie McGovern crafts a story that takes a realistic look at people who have disabilities but who are not their disability. This story isn’t about rescuing anyone. It is about setting aside fears, limitations, and appearances, and taking a chance at opening up. Everyone should meet Amy and Matt.
SEPTEMBER 2014 - AudioFile
Amy, a high school senior with cerebral palsy, uses a talking board to communicate. Rebecca Lowman’s gift for nuance flavors the narrative and Amy’s dialogue with humor, wit, hidden desires, delight, and sometimes despair. Amy’s isolated life changes when she’s allowed to choose peer caretakers, one of whom is Matthew. Matthew’s obsessive-compulsive disorder has made him an equal outcast, and Lowman expresses both the torment of his insecurities and the way his hopelessness shifts when Amy drives him to betterment. These sensitive portrayals are strengthened by Lowman’s skill in evoking the intensity of Matthew and Amy’s struggles to be themselves and, at the same time, find a path to a genuine relationship. Ultimately, Lowman lets listeners feel the full triumph of their hard-won love. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2014-04-09
Crushes, missteps and genuine loyalty on the road to deep friendship.As she enters her senior year of high school, Amy—hemiplegic due to an aneurism following her premature birth and near the top of her class—uses her augmentative and assistive communication device to argue successfully that she needs peer helpers in school rather than adult aides. Her mother, Nicole, is dubious, but Amy knows which buttons to push: "If I'm going to go to college, I need to practice relating to people my own age." Amy particularly wants to work with Matthew, whose unvarnished honesty fascinates her. Unlike her awkward relationships with her other peer helpers, Amy develops a real friendship with Matthew immediately. Due to their frank conversation and Amy's quick discovery of Matthew's OCD, their relationship is balanced and reciprocal, though their growing mutual affection goes largely unaddressed. Unlike its most obvious read-alike, The Fault in Our Stars, this is not a tragic romance: Amy and Matthew's relationship is messy, fraught and tantalizing, but it's not threatened with imminent death. McGovern's triumph is how well she normalizes and highlights the variety of disability experiences among teens and their often circuitous journeys toward claiming their voices and right to self-determination. It's slightly overplotted and occasionally heavy-handed, but it's easy to forgive these flaws.Ultimately, a deeply engaging and rewarding story. (Romance. 14-17)
