I'd like to rate it higher than average, but I don't feel I can given some of my concerns with the plot.

Carly begins the book as a teen who seems to be going down the wrong path. Her parents force her to put in one day of volunteer work painting at Happy House. Thomas had Down's Syndrome, and he is one of the people Happy House is designed to help. Thomas's brother Micah is also volunteering there that day and Carly quickly becomes infatuated with him--so much so that she borrows an ID from the sister of a friend to be able to get in to the venue where Micah's band is the opening act for another band that her friends like. (Concern 1: Her parents, who seem so concerned that this friend, Gigi, is leading Carly down the wrong path, are okay with her going out with this same friend the same evening as her "punishment" during the day. Either her parents aren't as concerned about her as they seem to be or they aren't parents who stick to their guns about punishment.)

At the concert, Carly realizes Micah has a girlfriend. She immediately wants to leave, but Gigi talks her into staying to hear the main band that they paid the cover charge to hear. They start talking to some guys from their school and it turns out that Carly and Zeke start dating that night. They date for about a year before Zeke commits suicide. Carly is the one to find him.

About four years later, Carly's and Micah's paths cross again. Micah's become a Christian in the meantime (causing his previous girlfriend to drop him). His "new" girlfriend died in a car accident about a year before he and Carly meet again. (Carly's become a science teacher in the meantime. Her science experiments with the kids at Happy House are neat.) Carly's not a born-again Christian at this point.

As they trade stories and realize both have seen things no one should really have to see or remember, Micah becomes convinced that they are "meant for each other" because he prayed that God would send someone who understood his pain. (Concern #2: If Micah is truly a born-again Christian, what about the verse about not being unequally yoked that most churches seem to interpret to mean a Christian should not date or marry a non-Christian. Yes, Carly does profess to become a Christian as a result of a conversation with Micah but it takes time to see if the profession is true or just words.)

(Concern #3: the pace at which their relationship develops. They go from meeting each other after 5 years to him asking her to marry him in what seems to be a very short time. Have they really had a chance to get to know each other? Couldn't they still be in the infatuation or honeymoon stage of their relationship at this point?) ( )