Title: How it Ends
Author: Laura Wiess
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: August 2009
Publisher: MTV Books
ISBN: 978-1416546634
344 pages
All Hanna's wanted since sophomore year is Seth. She's gone out with other guys, even gained a rep for being a flirt, all the while hoping cool, guitar-playing Seth will choose her. Then she gets him -- but their relationship is hurtful, stormy and critical, not at all what Hanna thinks a perfect love should be. Bewildered by Seth's treatment of her and in need of understanding, Hanna decides to fulfill her school's community service requirement by spending time with Helen, her terminally ill neighbor, who she's turned to for comfort and wisdom throughout her life. But illness has changed Helen into someone Hanna hardly knows, and her home is not the refuge it once was. Feeling more alone than ever, Hanna gets drawn into an audiobook the older woman is listening to, a fierce, unsettling love story of passion, sacrifice, and devotion. Hanna's fascinated by the idea that such all-encompassing love can truly exist, and without her even realizing it, the story begins to change her.
Until the day when the story becomes all too real...and Hanna's world is spun off its axis by its shattering, irrevocable conclusion.
My Thoughts:
How it Ends chronicles the stories of Helen and Hanna. Helen is a grandmotherly woman who lives next door to Hanna, a 15 year old girl who is going through the trials and tribulations of being a teenager. She loves a boy who is anything but nice to her, yet she keeps going back to him. Helen has become a grandmother figure to Hanna and regularly talks to her about life. Their relationship is really sweet and makes you long to hug your own grandma!
But, Helen hasn't been truthful with Hanna about her own life, filling Hanna with ideas that her and her husband, Lon's, life has been nothing but roses and butterflies. With Helen suffering from a debilitating disease, she realizes that it is time to tell Hanna the truth. She writes the story - the story of her life from a young girl to the woman she is today - and sends it off to be put into audiobook format.
As Hanna continues to care for the declining Helen, they find comfort in listening to books together. Unbeknownst to Hanna, they begin listening to Helen's book, "How it Ends". It is difficult for Hanna to listen to. She can't imagine someone living through what the characters in the story lived through. She becomes infuriated, sad, and confused, trying to wrap her head around this supposedly "fictionalized" story. Through the listening of the book, Hanna begins to take a stand against her so-called boyfriend, and begins to find her own way in the world. Hanna really grows throughout this story, from an insecure teenager who is eager to please the hot guy in school so he'll be her boyfriend, to finally sticking up for herself and becoming independent and more secure in her own body.
The end of this book is downright shocking and will stay with you long after the last page is read. This is an intense story and one I would definitely recommend. I loved following Hanna's and Helen's journey and I can't wait to read more from this author!
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Some random ideas off the top of my head? "Memoirs of Strong Women," "Books That'll Make you Hungry" (food books!), or "Controversial YA Books Parents Should Read More Closely." 
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Expressing our gratitude to God is an adventure in itself. After all, think about what we’ve been delivered from. We’ve been rescued from the cold night of sin that alienates us from God. –Sheila Walsh (The Great Adventure)
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