Still on my Mind #1

This Thursday weekly meme is hosted by Haley at YA-Aholic! It gives us a chance to reflect on a book/novel we had read in the past that still effects us today!

It came out in 2005, and I was so engrossed in this novel! I cried a few times, and even to this day, 7 years later, my mind goes back to how I felt when I was reading it and how the story continually effects me each time I read a new story.
More after the break!

My pick for this week is A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb (link to Goodreads)
Released: September 21, 2005

Description from Goodreads:

In the class of the high school English teacher she has been haunting, Helen feels them: for the first time in 130 years, human eyes are looking at her. They belong to a boy, a boy who has not seemed remarkable until now. And Helen--terrified, but intrigued--is drawn to him. The fact that he is in a body and she is not presents this unlikely couple with their first challenge. But as the lovers struggle to find a way to be together, they begin to discover the secrets of their former lives and of the young people they come to possess.

I read this novel when I was a sophomore in high school, and it does deal with pretty heavy issues, such as death, drugs, extreme religious beliefs, and domestic abuse. The writing definitely made me feel uncomfortable while reading about the issues, but only because I had not previously been introduced to them. Each situation the main characters, Jenny and Billy, got into, I was cringing, sweating, laughing, and crying. They are two souls who inhabit living people's bodies and they have to learn to adapt to the live that human lives. It's extremely stressful reading along with them and seeing the people in their "hosts" lives controlling them or hurting them, and they don't deserve it (either does the host, to be honest). It made me think a lot about friendship, love, and mortality. These two characters are going through similar experiences but their personal background is entirely different, and it's heartbreaking! You feel the struggles as they do, and you feel the pain when they're hurt. Only rarely do I find myself putting the book down for periods of time inbetween reading because it's so stressful.

What's super exciting about this meme, is that when Haley posted about it on facebook, I instantly thought of this book and got all geared up to post about it. I had done some research to see what other info I could find about the book, and found out that sometime this year, Laura Whitcomb is coming out with a sequel! It's still being edited, so I have no idea what it will focus on or if the characters will be the same, but anything close to the world of A Certain Slant of Light really makes me overjoyed! Update!: The sequel is called, Under the Light, and according to Whitcomb's blog, it continues Jenny and Billy's experiences from the end of A Certain Slant of Light or maybe some time inbetween has passed. She's only blogged about it a few times, so information is scarse, but I am super excited all the same!

I've only participated in a few memes, and I'm really super excited to be apart of this one. I'm always thinking of novels/books I've read in the past and I never have a venue to discuss them. Most of my friends get annoyed when I start talking about books just to talk about books, even if I'm recommending them. I always come up with really great recommendations and it's only been a few times a friend has actually tried anything I've told them about. (I got 4 friends hooked on the Twilight series,  but I can't take all the credit because the movie was also coming out at the same time.)

What's Still On (your) Mind??

Happy reading!