"Yeah," I say.
"Why?"
I give her the only honest and true answer I have. "You're where I want to be.”
― Simone Elkeles, Leaving Paradise
Leaving Paradise as well as the follow up novel Return to Paradise follows two teenagers from both perspective; Maggie is you average girl who had her perfect group of friends, a life playing tennis and a future of travelling to Spain for school. Until the accident happened. Caleb is the all star wrestler popular guy with his perfect girlfriend, after getting behind the wheel drunk Caleb hits Maggie with his car, and both lives are affected by that one mistake.
Leaving Paradise is about Caleb's return to Paradise after being in Juvie for nearly a year after the accident. He comes home to find his family is a wreck despite the face they put on for their friends and everyone else in their small town. Not only is his family a wreck but his best friend Brian is dating Caleb's ex-girlfriend, Kendra. Now with Caleb home Kendra tries to get him back, but he has eyes for only one - Maggie.
Maggie is absolutely furious about Caleb's return, especially with his living next door with his "perfect" family, coming back to school still the same all star guy despite what he did. And here's Maggie, the loser who's been shunned by all her friends - despite her mother's interference in the matter - can't play tennis anymore, because of the accident that left her with a limp, not only all this, but she also has lost her chance to get away to Spain because of her inability to play Tennis.
And if seeing eachother everywhere else wasn't bad enough, Caleb's communitry service job puts him side by side with Maggie. Both stuck together with Mrs Reynolds and with her support, Maggie learns to forgive Caleb. But he's keeping a huge secret from her. One that would change everything.
In the end, they both take eachothers advise, Maggie doesn't leave for Spain despite the fact she has the money to go now, because Caleb taught her it was a copout to just leave because of what happened. Thought that's exactly what he does. With a catastrophic home life that he believes was made worse with him being there, he leaves it all behind - Including Maggie...
In the follow up novel Return to Paradise Maggie and Caleb are reunited again on a trip for people affected by reckless driving. Caleb is bound by law to stay on the trip, and Maggie is determined to prove that she has moved on from Caleb. Despite the obvious fact that neither of them are over the other. Caleb continues to push her away while still holding her close, unsure whether to follow his heart or do what he believes is best for her. Maggie has alternative motives, she wants to bring Caleb back with her to Paradise to confess the truth about the accident which she finally remembered.
Finally getting under his skin he confesses - infront of the whole group - that he wasn't the one driving the car. After the confession Caleb and Maggie connect again despite his honesty of leaving after the trip is over in order to protect who really drove the car.
Now with no place to stay Caleb, as well as another group member Lenny, do the unthinkable and (you guessed it) return to Paradise. With his Mom in drug rehab after abusing prescription drugs and Father continuing the facade, and his sister Leah turned goth, Caleb turns to none other than Maggie. Finally ready to confess what really happened that night to clear his name.
Finally, the real driver who hit Maggie the night of the party was Caleb's twin sister Leah. She finally confesses to the family that Caleb took the fall for her, and turns herself in to the police. With his record wiped clean and Maggie finally ready for her semester in Spain, Caleb tells her he loves her and will wait for her.
9 Months later when Maggie returns to Paradise, Caleb is waiting at Mrs Reynolds Gazibo he built after getting out of juvie, the project that kept him close to Maggie, and where he fell in love with her.
“Why shouldn't I be introspective? We dont' make sense."
"Neither do Chocolate and Peanut Butter, but it somehow works." He says "Somehow the mixture of two things is genius.”
― Simone Elkeles, Return to Paradise
I absolutely love Simone Elkeles' work, but these two were by far my favourites. The connection between Caleb and Maggie was amazing especially with all that had happened between then and both their family problems it was inspiring. The main thing I will take away from these two books is the art of forgiveness. I am a very grudgful person, I'm a Taurus so I'll say I firgive but I never forget. Maggie may never be able to forget what happened to her, but she is able to accept that it was an accident and not to hate anyone for it. In the end she took the knowledge from the experience, as it changed her life forever. As it did for Caleb, he found someone who saw him despite the flaws and who managed to fall in love with him. I strongly recommend Simone Elkeles' work for these books as well as her other novels.
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