Literally selection

The Last Song by: Nicholas Sparks

The Last Song is the story of Ronnie Miller and the summer that she spends with her father at
Wrightsville Beach. At the start of the summer, she is a rebellious 17-year-old who resents her parents
for their messy divorce; she is particularly annoyed that she is being forced to spend the summer with
her estranged father, to whom she has not spoken in three years. She is so angry that she has
abandoned the one thing that she and her father used to share in common — playing the piano. She has
no desire to spend the summer in North Carolina; she has no desire to get to know Will Blakeley, the
good-looking beach volleyball player who literally bumps into her during her first day in the South; and
she has no desire to reconnect with the father who walked away from her, her mother, and her brother.
However, a run-in with the wrong crowd combined with a nest of endangered loggerhead turtle eggs
results in Ronnie's unexpected maturation. The summer she initially dreaded ends up being an
opportunity for her to learn about faith, family, and love.

The epilogue ties up all the loose ends and provides a satisfying closure to the story. Over the course of
the novel, Ronnie learned to "embrace life and flourish," for life is for the living. True to form, The Last
Song has a happy ending, and life does go on. The Last Song is about growing up, physically, emotionally,
and spiritually. Only when she allows herself to accept help and criticism from others does she begin to
change. But the maturation process is slow — it takes Ronnie the summer to learn this. She also learns
the value of love and faith. Throughout the course of the summer, Ronnie learns from family and
friends, who serve as a catalyst for her growth. She learns the value of communicating from Will; from
her father, she learns that love is more of a verb than a noun; and she teaches herself that when you
take time for other people, other people will take time for you.

The most significant allusions in The Last Song are Christian in nature. Following the same faith, this
novel tells that we need to keep our faith and trust in the Lord. This is once true value that will remain in
me after reading the book or even watching its movie adaptation.