The more time that Emma Saylor spends at North Lake the more time it feels like she is divided into two people Emma, who her father has raised and grown to know, and Saylor, the name her mother called her and maternal family has adopted. There are two communities at the lake her mother grew up in working-class North Lake, while her father spent the summers in a wealthier Lake North resort. Emma Saylor doesn't remember much about her mother, who died when she was ten, but she does remember some of the stories that her mother would tell her about a big lake, and upon arriving at the lake she realizes that her mother's stories don't paint the full picture.

It was decided that she would spend the summer up at North Lake her mother's childhood home, with her cousins, aunts, and maternal grandmother. Over the summer she reconnects with relatives and friends she hadn't seen in years, and learns more about her past and connects the idea of her mother with the truth.Īt 17-years-old, Emma Saylor Payne is stuck with nowhere to go after her summer plans fall through and her father, stepmother, and grandmother are all leaving the country. As her only option, she spends the summer with her maternal grandmother, whom she last saw years earlier at her mother's funeral. The novel focuses on Emma Saylor Payne, and her summer with her mother's family, after her summer plans are canceled and her father scrambles to find a solution before he leaves the country. It’s hard not to get caught up in the magic of North Lake-and Saylor finds herself falling under Roo’s spell as well.įor Saylor, it’s like a whole new world is opening up to her.The Rest of the Story is a novel by Sarah Dessen. Roo holds the key to her family’s history, and slowly, he helps her put the pieces together about her past. Then there’s Roo, the boy who was her very best friend when she was little.

But to her new family, she is Saylor, the name her mother always called her. The more time Emma spends there, the more it starts to feel like she is divided into two people as well. Her mother grew up in working class North Lake, while her dad spent summers in the wealthier Lake North resort. When Emma arrives at North Lake, she realizes there are actually two very different communities there.

Now it’s just Emma and her dad, and life is good, if a little predictable…until Emma is unexpectedly sent to spend the summer with her mother’s family-her grandmother and cousins she hasn’t seen since she was a little girl. But she does remember the stories her mom told her about the big lake that went on forever, with cold, clear water and mossy trees at the edges. Emma Saylor doesn’t remember a lot about her mother, who died when she was ten.

Sarah dessen rest of the story