The Truth About Forever

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The Truth About Forever is Sarah Dessen's sixth novel. It was published in hardcover on May 11, 2004 and in paperback on April 6, 2006.

[edit] Plot summary

Macy's summer stretches before her, carefully planned and outlined. She will spend her days sitting at the library information desk. She will spend her evenings studying for the SATs. Spare time will be used to help her obsessive mother prepare for the big opening of the townhouse section of her luxury development. But Macy's plans don't anticipate a surprising and chaotic job with Wish Catering, a motley crew of new friends, or ... Wes. Tattooed, artistic, anything-but-expected Wes. He doesn't fit Macy's life at all--so why does she feel so comfortable with him? So ... happy? What is it about him that makes her let down her guard and finally talk about how much she misses her father, who died before her eyes the year before? Was it his security that made her feel so alive? Or was it that he knew how death felt too? From boring old Macy to free Macy, will her change ruin every thing she planned? Will she say good-bye to perfection forever? . . .

[edit] External links

• Sarah Dessen's The Truth About Forever page

[edit] Characters

Macy Queen - Macy is the protagonist of the story. After witnessing her father's death, she becomes withdrawn, and begins dating Jason, brilliant and logical, whose perfection is the solution to her life. Macy is satisfied with her life until she meets the Wish crew, and they show her how it could all be different. She describes herself as a short blonde with a round face. She was a runner before her father's death, and, with time, she learns to run again.

Deborah Queen - Macy and Caroline's mom, who throws herself into her housing business as a way of dealing with her husband's death, alienating her daughters and their needs.

Jason Talbot- Macy's boyfriend, who put their relationship on hold because of Macy's supposed clinginess and the fact that he is convinced Macy isn't putting full effort into her summer job at her job at the library. He views their relationship as a distraction to his goals. During the course of the novel, Jason is mostly at "Brain" Camp, and occasionally visiting their town.

Caroline- Macy's sister who used to sneak out of the house when she was younger and was constantly in trouble. She had "the most gorgeous wedding anyone ever saw," to an older, rich man that she loves very much. Macy describes her as the emotion of the family.

Delia- The main caterer that runs Wish. Always surrounded by chaos, she is married, the mother of a little girl named Lucy, and pregnant. She named the catering company after her dead sister's nickname, Wish.

Kristy- Kristy is one of the servers for Wish. She was involved in an enormous car accident when she was younger, resulting in the death of her mother. She now has scars on her face and in other locations on her body. She is extremely protective of her friends, as evidenced by when the reader hears about when she became very angry at Jason and his parents because of the way Jason treated Macy. Free and willful, she is constantly looking for an "extraordinary" boy and has a crazy sense of fashion.

Monica/Monotone- As her nickname indicates, she speaks everything in the same tone. Kristy's less flamboyant sister, she is a server for Wish, but extremely accident-prone.

Wesley/Wes- Delia's older nephew, who also works for Wish and is shown to handle the bar. Highly attractive, he makes sculptures of hearts in hands and angels out of common yard junk that he learned to do while he was incarserated. He doesn't care about looks or being perfect, he thinks it's someone's flaws that make them attractive. He was once in juvenile hall and was arrested. Live with his younger brother Bert because their mother died of cancer.

Bert- Wes's younger brother, Bert shares the same features, but built on a shorter, rounder frame. He has the tendency to take everything very seriously, and believes the apocalypse is coming soon.