You Have Seven Messages

"But how do you really know what's true? Is there some big book of truth?" "The book is here." She placed her hand where my heart is.

Imagine discovering what you thought was true about your family might be nothing more than a lie?

Fifteen year old Luna, who lives in Central Park West, is still grieving the death of her super model mother when she stumbles upon her cell phone a year later and finds it's still in working order with seven new messages on it. The rational thing to do would be to delete them but curiosity wins out and Luna decides to listen to each one in order. She still has questions surrounding her mother's death and thinks the messages will provide the answers she so desperately wants. All of the messages will have a lasting effect on Luna even the mundane ones but the rest will turn her world upside down and threaten to destroy her once happy family.

Stewart Lewis writes an endearing story about a young girl's journey to piece together the puzzle that has now become her life. What's truth and what's a lie? How can you tell the difference and is it really worth knowing?

When Luna makes the decision to listen to the messages, life as she knows it changes. She makes new friends, uncovers a talent she didn't know she had, falls in love for the first time and learns that hearts can be as fragile as glass. She also discovers no one is perfect, the truth isn't always black and white and love and forgiveness go hand in hand.

One of the first messages Luna listens to leads her to Daria, a model she meets through a mutual friend of her mother's. They quickly become friends and Daria takes on an older sister role in her life while also strongly encouraging Luna's photography. Daria arranges for Luna to meet with some pretty high power people in the photography business but this is New York and with the right connections, anything is possible. (Having a famous film director for a dad and a former super model for a mom doesn't hurt either.)

Another message leads Luna to the dry cleaners and it's there that she runs into her neighbor, Oliver, finally giving her a chance to speak to the only boy she's ever crushed on. (Well, besides Orlando Bloom but he WAS staying in her house at the time.) She's watched and listened from her window for years while Oliver practiced his cello and his music has often lulled her to sleep. They become friends and soon, he's helping her piece together some of the other clues from her mother's phone. Before too long, Luna realizes she's falling in love with Oliver and thinks he feels the same but an overbearing parent and a betrayal could destroy everything.

Her relationship with her father, becomes strained as the messages begin to reveal that her parent's marriage wasn't the fairytale Luna believed it to be and he won't answer her questions honestly. He tries to explain as best as he can without causing she and her brother Tile any more grief than they're already dealing with. His jump back into the dating pool only adds to Luna's conflict even though she's the one who encouraged him to date again.

Luna continues to listen to the messages but just as she's ready to hear the last one, her life takes another unexpected turn and she's left once again questioning the truth of those around her. She'll be forced to face the fact that there are no perfect people and that real love requires a willingness to forgive even after the person is gone.

The two primary themes in this story are love and forgiveness and it almost feels as if there are several different love stories (not all the romantic kind) all playing out at the same time. A couple of the stories are just beginning, some were coming to an end, others are going strong, and others still are merely struggling to maintain the status quo.

Parental love is a lot like that and Lewis does a beautiful job of letting the reader feel the love between Luna and her father so you understand his anguish over not wanting her to know the truth about the circumstances surrounding her mother's death. A parent's job is to protect their children and that's what both of hers were attempting to do in the weeks leading up to her mother's death.

The phrase, "You hurt me, but I love you." is repeated several times throughout the book and is worth remembering. Those we love are going to hurt us (some in small ways, some in big ways) but if we truly love them, we're willing to forgive because they will always be a part of us, even after they leave us.