A Walk to Remember (pages 1-103)

Summary:
The main character, and narrator of the story is a boy named Landon Carter, who's seventeen years old. The setting is 1958 Beaufort, North Carolina. He lived in a town that was very religious and was centered around churches. His father was a congressman, so he lived a pretty well-off lifestyle. He wasn't insanely rich but he was   wealthier than most. His father and the minister of the Southern Baptist Church, Hegbert Sullivan, had been long time rivals because Hegbert had worked for Landon's grandfather, who never payed his workers. Landon and his friends used to make fun of Hegbert, and shout "Hegbert's a fornicator" at him. Hegbert's wife went through six miscarriages before their daughter Jamie was born, and then she died. That became the plot for a play that the church put on every year, called A Christmas Angel, which was Hegbert's version of A Christmas Carole.

Jamie was basically known as the minister's daughter. She always walked around with a bible with her, a brown sweater on and a long plaid skirt. She was often made fun of by Landon and his friends, like Eric Hunter, who was the most popular guy in school. Jamie was a sweetheart, and all the adults adored her. She volunteered at an orphanage, donated to charity, helped out anyone she could, and took stray animals to the animal shelter.

Landon's father tells him its a good idea for him to  run for student body president, because it would look good on his college applications. None of his competitors stood a chance and Eric had helped Landon get votes, so Landon ended up being president. Being the student body president, he had to attend the homecoming dance, which he didn't have a date for. He had gone steady with a girl named Angela Clark, but she dumped him for a guy named Lew. Landon was desperate for a date and everyone had rejected him or didnt want to go. So, he ended up asking Jamie to the dance, and she said she would under one condition - He had to promise he wouldn't fall in love with her...

The dance wasn't as bad as he'd thought it would be, except Lew spiked the punch bowl and Angela was throwing up all over the place. Jamie and Landon helped get her home. A couple days later, Jamie asked Landon to stop by her house. Then, she had asked him to be Tom Thorton in the A Christmas Angel play that the town would be putting on. Jamie would be playing the angel, of course, because her father wrote the play about her, and she wanted Landon to be the main character. Landon couldn't turn her down, because she was so nice, plus there wasn't anyone else who could play the part, so he agreed to do it. People at school began making up rumors about Landon and Jamie, saying they were dating, and Landon's friends were making fun of him, because he was always spending time with her.

Landon then invited Jamie over his house for dinner and he began walker her home often, because her house was on the way to his. They even visited the orphanage together, where they asked the director if they could put on the play for the kids, but he said no because he felt like the play might make them sad. Its about a father who loses his wife and wants to find the perfect gift for his daughter and an angel comes down from heaven and helps him. The part about him losing his wife might've been too much for the orphans. Landon didnt know if he was falling for Jamie or if he was just doing this all out of pity.

Quote:"'id love to,' she said finally, 'on one condition.' I steadied myself, hoping it wasn't something too awful. 'yes?' 'you have to promise that you won't fall in love with me.' I knew she was kidding by the way she laughed, and i couldnt help but breathe a sigh of relief. Sometimes, I had to admit, Jamie had a pretty good sense of humor. I smiled and gave her my word" (Sparks, 38).

Reaction: this is my FAVORITE part of the entire story, only because i know what happens in the end. I think that this quote foreshadows what will happen in the future, and it makes you wonder. Will Landon fall in love with her? Why CANT he fall in love with her? And why doesn't she want him to? I just really love this quote, and in the end you definately think back to it, maybe its a warning....