Being a teenager is one of life’s toughest trials. In the ten-year period, adolescents are introduced to betrayal, love, loss and the importance of family. It takes an incredibly well-crafted story to incorporate all of these themes into its characters, making them as real as they come and easily relatable to the real-life issues teenagers face every day.  

Nicholas Sparks’ latest novel, The Last Song, is one of these books.  Sparks’ ability to capture the struggling relationship between a rebellious teenager and her parents automatically catches the reader’s attention.

Ronnie, a rebellious 17-year-old girl heading down the wrong path, and her younger brother Jonah, travel to the South to spend the summer with their father, Steve, who Ronnie has stubbornly cut out of her life for three years. Ronnie and Jonah arrive at their father’s North Carolina home, with Ronnie digging her heels in the entire way there, and Jonah completely euphoric with the prospects of the upcoming summer. In the beginning, Ronnie is bitter towards her father, still holding a grudge for his abandonment three years earlier; however, as the summer progresses, their estrangement shapes into a relationship that many would be envious of.

Sparks effectively captures the stubborn spirit ­of a teenager in Ronnie from the beginning, and her frustration immediately leaps off the page as she deals with her own life and current situation. It is difficult for Ronnie to see past her fury towards her parents and exasperation with Jonah, so she reacts as any teenager would— she meets their subtle acts of compassion with a determined stubbornness and fierce rebellion.

However, underneath her tough exterior, it is clear that Ronnie is not at all what she appears to be. Through Sparks’ effective illustration of a teenager dealing with her own struggles, Ronnie’s passion for life and thoughtfulness seamlessly come through. The character’s revelation is expressed through her love for her younger brother and her maternal obligation to a nearby turtle nest, keeping a constant vigil during the night to protect them from any harm.

 Still upset with her summer plans, Ronnie chooses to push her limits by spending her days with the wrong kind of friends, a group that ultimately frames her as a shoplifter. It takes this misjudged run-in with the law for Ronnie to see that she is following a dangerous path. In order to get back on track, Ronnie eventually opens up and seeks a relationship with her estranged father.

 As her relationship with her father grows, Ronnie also forms a promising relationship with Will, a local boy who is fascinated by her deep personality. The young couple retains a relationship throughout the course of the summer, and Ronnie helps Will break through the barriers of conformity which Will’s parents wish for him to follow, while Will supports Ronnie through her framed shoplifting scandal.

 The relationship between Ronnie’s father Steve and his children blossoms as well. Jonah idolizes his father and the two are almost inseparable through their determination to finish a window for a nearby church, the victim of the latest arson. Jonah’s innocence and kindness towards his family is another highlight of the story, and he easily makes his way into the heart of readers through his compassion towards his family. The frayed relationship between Ronnie and her father also begins to mend as Ronnie’s resentment towards her father grows into a fierce love and Steve accepts Ronnie as a young woman, rather than the little girl he used to know.

Some could say that Sparks’ writing is not at its peak in The Last Song, but through his intricate characters and storyline, the hours spent reading The Last Song easily fly by. Any teenager can relate to the book simply by diving into it. Its perceptiveness of teenage rebellion and a parent’s angst place The Last Song in a category of its own as it conveys the themes of love, loss and growing up, making the book an easy fit for any reader.