Sophie & Carter (edition 2011)

In this short novella by Chelsea Fine, Sophie and Carter are two high school students dealing with serious problems at home while leaning on each other for support. As their high school careers are coming to a close, however, they struggle with the idea that their friendship may be deeper than either suspected.

I was amazed at how quickly Fine managed to draw me into the story and make me connect with these two characters. She is a master at snagging your attention fast and not letting it go (her “Archers of Avalon” series had me at the first paragraph). Fine also likes to alternate the narration of her stories between characters, and with Sophie and Carter she is extremely successful with this style. Changes in font help indicate the shifting points of view, with each chapter providing a first-hand look at the difficulties each teen is experiencing on a daily basis. Carter is taking care of his mentally impaired mother, both of them victims of his missing father’s abuse, while Sophie is dealing with an absentee, drug-addicted mom and raising her three younger siblings the best she can. The only relief each of them finds is at school – where they try to act as normal as possible – and on the swing on Sophie’s porch each night where they meet to discuss their day and draw strength from each other. After years of this support, however, Sophie and Carter begin to realize that friendship may no longer be enough.

This is such a difficult story to describe because it sounds so very grim, but both characters hold out so much hope for each other’s future that it brightens the narrative. While neither feels worthy of the other, their love is the foundation of each of their lives. Fine tells this story simply and in a straight-forward fashion, making it incredibly accessible to pre-teens and up. Seeing how these two cope with keeping Carter’s mother calm through her hallucinations or getting Sophie’s siblings off to school in the morning, you feel they are each other’s REAL family and that nothing will tear them apart. Now they just have to find the courage to recognize their love for themselves.

The only thing I wish was that this story was a little bit longer; I was so connected with Sophie and Carter that I hated to let them go at the end. At the same time, though, I don’t know how Fine would have been able to lengthen the story without weakening it, since brevity is also one of its strengths. The story jumps right into the middle of Sophie and Carter’s lives and provides just the right amount of information at just the right time to keep your attention riveted. Because these characters are dealing with some very serious issues, dragging the story out could have taken it to some really dark places. As it is, Fine treads lightly over this troubled ground and manages to keep the focus on the relationship instead of the tragedies that made it necessary.

With a simple narrative, engaging characters, and an emotionally satisfying conclusion Chelsea Fine’s Sophie and Carter is a powerful, moving novella about the support two teens provide each other as they struggle through their troubled lives and how that relationship is on the edge of changing into something even deeper. While the difficulties Sophie and Carter face on a daily basis are upsetting, each character has such hopes and dreams for the other that their loving optimism manages to break through the grimness and leave the reader with the feeling that they are going to be all right – as long as they have each other. ( )

This was a cute e-novella that I gave three stars to just because it was so short. More back story or more story on the end and I would have loved it more but the length was what it was simply because that was all that needed to be told.

Overall it was a quick read and a good book but probably wouldn't go back and read it again just because of its simplicity. ( )

I absolutely loved this book. It was only a short read and can be read in one sitting, but it was full to the brim of awesome characters and emotion. The detail in the lives of Sophie and Carter was amazing. This book is life changing and after reading, you have to be thankful for what you have.

Sophie is a teenage girl looking after her 3 siblings; her mother is a prostitute and is never home.

Carter is looking after his mentally ill mother, with each day brining another hallucination and being a danger to her. Cater is also trying to cope with the problems of his past.

Together they are a perfect team and this story tells of their daily lives separate and together.

The author is amazing and her writing skill puts you in their shoes and it is so vivid. I was in tears reading this book and left speechless. ( )

“Love.
Not the kind you see in the movies or hear about on the radio.
The real kind.
The kind that gets beaten down and bloody, yet perseveres.
The kind that hopes even when hope seems foolish.
The kind that can forgive. The kind that believes in healing.
The kind that can sit in silence and feel renewed.
The real kind of love.
It's rare and we have it..”

A girl. A boy. And a porch swing. Sometimes life breaks your heart and sometimes the boy next door puts it back together. Carter looks after his crazy mother yet never takes his watchful eyes off the little girl next door.. over the years that little girl has become his best friend... his everything. Sophie is soft even though she's been wounded so many times, she hasn't aloud life to make her cold and hard. Her mothers never around and Sophie struggles to take care of her three younger siblings, she's finding herself playing mom and a much too young age. Sophie & Carter have always been there for one another, they end each day together on Sophie's front porch swing, their very own escape from reality.. even if for just a little while. Suddenly they start to notice their friendship changing, shifting into something more. Sophie and Carter are scared or more so terrified to lose one another.. but life for them holds so many uncertainties and nothing every goes right for them.. so they can only pray that maybe this will.

“Sophie’s lips against me make every punch, every kick, every wound, every scar worth it.
She pulls away from the corner of my mouth slightly and I’m perfectly still. Afraid if I move I’ll wake up. Her breaths are caressing my lips, my breaths are ragged and hot. She tilts her head to the side and looks at my mouth. Then I kiss her. In this moment, everything bad, everything painful, everything unfair disappears. It’s just me and Sophie. Connected. And I’ve never felt so whole.” -Carter

"He's not the most popular guy in school. He's not the hottest guy to ever live. But to me, he's everything." Sophie

"She was the reason I went to school. Or got up in the morning. Or kept breathing. The promise of Sophie." Carter

“But there are some kinds of love that you can’t lose, no matter how hard you try. So there’s no need for him to be afraid.” -Carter

“Life is what we make it.”

“They’re not really homes. More like houses where we sleep. Where we eat—if we’re lucky. Where we cry and fight. Where we bleed and break. Where we cower and scream. Where we give up. Where we sigh. Where we barely survive.” -Carter

“I love her guts” -Carter ( )

This was the first book I’ve read by Chelsea Fine and I must say I was amazingly impressed.

What Sophie and Carter go through in this book was simply astonishing to me. I know what you are thinking – people go through worse stuff on a daily basis – agreed. Still, I was pretty freaking impressed with the two of them!

Sophie – who’s mother is literally MIA due to the fact that she’s chosen drugs and prostitution over her own children – is left to raise not only herself, but her siblings as well.

Carter – who has scars beyond scars from the abuse he took from his father growing up. That is, until he got brave enough to fight back and when his dad left that night, he never returned. – is essentially his mother, who should be in a hospital due to the fact that she is mentally unstable.

Imagine facing and growing through what these two go through, all while being strong and trying to hold it together while making it through high school. Living right next door to one another, they watch as they each struggle day to day – and on that, they have managed to build a friendship that has helped them both through every hard time they have ever faced. What began as a friendship built on the need to get through each day, to have someone who understands you and can relate, soon began to look like it was going to turn into more. I will tell you right now – you will be physically UNABLE to root for them through this book!

The chemistry between Sophie and Carter was amazing. The book was written with such passion that after each turn of the page, you felt yourself feeling every left down, every hurt, every laugh, basically every emotion that was portrayed on those pages. To me, that makes one talented writer. Through some laughs – more tears than I care to admit – and a vast understanding of a struggle at it’s hardest points, this book touched my heart! ( )