Dear John

September 4, 2006
Hot on the heels of True Believer
and sequel At First Sight
, Sparks returns with the story of ne'er-do-well-turned-army-enlistee John Tyree, 23, and well-to-do University of North Carolina special education major Savannah Lynn Curtis. John, who narrates, has been raised by a socially backward single postal-worker dad obsessed with coin collecting (he has Asperger's syndrome). John bypasses college for the overseas infantry; Savannah spends her college summers volunteering. When they meet, he's on leave, and she's working with Habitat for Humanity (he rescues her sinking purse at the beach). John has a history of one-night stands; Savannah's a virgin. He's an on-and-off drinker; she's a teetotaler. Attraction and values conflict the rest of the summer, but the deal does not close. Savannah longs for John to come home; her friend Tim longs to have a relationship with her. On the brink of John and Savannah's finally getting together, 9/11 happens, and John re-ups. Savannah's letters come less and less frequently, and before you know it, he receives the expected "Dear John" letter. Sparks's novel brims with longing.

November 1, 2006
Sparks's (The Notebook; True Believer) latest romance is a gripping story that revolves around a long-distance relationship between small-town North Carolina heroine Savannah Lynn Curtis and her army recruit boyfriend, John Tyree. In a few months, John's tour of duty will end, and the couple can marry. Then 9/11 hits, and John faces the most difficult decision of his life: to return to the woman he loves or to re-enlist and continue defending his country while holding on to the promise that Savannah will agree to wait another four years for him. In true Sparks tradition, his characters discover that sometimes a happy ending requires sacrifices, which lead us to do the right thing rather than fulfill the longing of our hearts. So set yourself under a full moon like Savannah and John and read on to discover if their love will survive. For popular fiction collections.April Davis, Chantilly, VA

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2006
John Tyree is on the fast track to nowhere. At 20 he has no real relationship with his strange and dispassionate father, no attachments to anyone else, and no job, so after breaking up with his girlfriend, he decides to join the army. Military life does alter him, yet he remains disconnected. While home visiting his father in Wilmington, North Carolina, however, he meets Savannah Curtis, a college coed who is everything he is not. A warm, morally straight-ahead woman with a commitment to special education, she captures John's heart and he hers. In the short time they spend together, he opens up to Savannah and true love develops as they plan for a future. Then September 11 changes everything. John feels that it is his duty to renew his commitment to the army, while Savannah wants him home with her. The good soldier now lives in dread of receiving a "Dear John" letter. Sparks, a perennially popular novelist whose name is synonymous with romance and bittersweet endings and whose work translates so readily to movies, lives up to his reputation with his latest novel, a tribute to courageous and self-sacrificing soldiers. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)