Fighting the Current

by Heather Waldorf

Theresa "Tee" Stanford figures her life is smooth sailing, but everything changes when a drunk driver hits her father, leaving him mentally disabled. With her last year of high school looming, Tee can no longer rely on her old dreams for the future.

Genres: Young Adult

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 9, 2004

About the author

Heather Waldorf was born in Ottawa and raised in small-town Eastern Ontario. She now lives in Toronto with Moose, a twelve-year-old golden retriever. Heather is addicted to green tea, jigsaw puzzles, mystery novels and the TV show Bones. Also a lover of the great outdoors, she's never written a novel that doesn't, at some point, put the main character in a canoe.

Heather received her fine arts degree from York University and her adult education degree from Brock University. She is a full-time counselor at a North York group home for adults with developmental disabilities. Heather's experience as a social worker and her passion for the outdoors inspired her to write Fighting the Current, her first book for young adults.

Reviews

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed by hoopsielv for TeensReadToo.com

Tee's senior year of high school should be filled with happy memories of friends, family, and college dreams. It's anything but that. A local drunk hit her father and he's in rehabilitation with the ability of a five-year-old. Since she doesn't have much of a relationship with her mother, Tee is living with an aunt who is a popular author.

It's time for Tee to put her life back together. She is a good student and wants to get an early acceptance to a prestigious university. Ethan is a new student and the two have more than a study relationship.

They find out that they both have home situations that are different than the norm: Ethan's younger sister struggles with cystic fibrosis and, like Tee's father, hospital and doctor visits are a part of life.

Tee's father loved the outdoors and was working with her to build a canoe. It's left unfinished in the garage and it's a reminder of the past. Tee knows she's got to move forward, but where does her father fit in? How about her mother, too, who is longing for the family that she once had?. There are more tragedies ahead, as well. Can Tee rebuild what has been broken and also finish what's been started?

I absolutely loved FIGHTING THE CURRENT. It's one of the best I've read in a long time. I found myself wondering what Tee was going to do. This book was full of unpredictability and surprises. This book's theme appeared to be that even though relationships can change over time, love remains and you have to see it in a different light. I highly recommend this book!

[Bniceygresham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is about a girl whose father gets hit by a drunk driver and leaves him in an almost vegetative state. When her father finally comes out of the coma, he has the mind and the memory of a child. Throughout the book he gains his memory back but its not enough because the girl is facing many more problems than that. She thought senior year was supposed to be easy with a canoing trip but that was before she met Ethan, Ellie, and Dr. Spellman. She has to realize things on her own although nothing is the same anymore

[Purpleduck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a suprisingly good YA contemporary. I got this book a few years ago as a gift and it had been sitting on my shelf ever since. I had no idea what this book was about going in because I had never heard of it and I don't like reading the blurb on the back. This is one of the better YA contemporaries I've read. There's also the added bonus that it Canadian so it was nice reading about a setting I'm more familiar with.

[Bernice · Rating 4 out of 5]

About a girl whose father gets hit and it leaves him in a vegetative state. He recovers but has the memory of a child. He slowly gains his memory back but the girl must learn that she has to be independent of everyone if she wants to potential to hold on to her dreams.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a great read. I found myself not really wanting to put it down. Although the book was good I thought the ending could have been a little better. It was almost like the end of the book was rushed, just to get it done. Overall the book was a great read though.

[Haley Wieting]

I really loved how Heather made you think about what would you have done if that happened to you. I also liked how everything was tied together and you could understand everything that was going on in the book.

[Nichole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was touched by this story. It was powerful and I couldn't put it down. I would leap at the opprutunity to read the book again (And Again).

[Celine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I can't wait to read it again.

[De'ondre Prentiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book for a class project in my Drivers Ed Class. One of the best books I've read

[Brayden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This really was a beautiful book. I had read a previous book by this author and thought it was okay but this one blew me away.