Carpe Diem

Via Death to Stock Photo

Perusing the library's shelves in the teen novel section, I had nothing in particular in mind; I just wanted something "light and fluffy" to read. Flashy titles advertising mystery, secrets, and intrigue jumped out at me but they were not what I was looking for. Then the natural tan spine of Autumn Cornwell's Carpe Diem (Latin for "Seize the day") caught my eye and a quick skim of the back told me everything I needed to know. This was the One. The book coming home with me! The story follows an over-achieving 16-year-old whose extensive plans for the future are sent into a tailspin when she is forced to spend her summer traveling Southeast Asia with an obscure relative.

Vassar Spore is an ambitious student with even more ambitious goals, including graduating valedictorian with a 5.3 GPA, getting her PhD from an Ivy League school, and publishing an award winning book before the age of 37. Her well-meaning parents have encouraged and supported Vassar in all her endeavors, even perpetuating her inflated ambitions. However, for all her plans and organization, nothing can prepare her for what Grandma Gerd has in store for her: a three month trip through three countries in Southeast Asia: Malaysia, Cambodia, and Laos. At first glance, Grandma Gerd is everything Vassar is not: adventurous, unpredictable, chaotic. Grandma Gerd's LIM (Live In the Moment) philosophy combined with her massive "found art" collage project propel the story forward as the unlikely pair traverses the exotic terrain of Asia. Southeast Asia mirrors Gerd's unpredictable and chaotic personality putting Vassar in very unfamiliar terrain.

The novel follows Vassar's fantastical adventures as she trails Grandma Gerd and tries to figure out the "Big Secret"--a mysterious piece of information responsible for Vassar's being there. Along the way, she chronicles her adventures in novel format for her Stateside friends. Vassar's character begins the journey as pretentious and ungrateful, spoiled and unwilling to change. But time goes by. Sticky situations abound. And slowly she does change. At the climax of the novel (Spoiler Alert!)  Vassar discovers that she is adopted. Though this was a predictable plot point, the shock comes when she discovers that Grandma Gerd is actually her birth-mother! In a series of extreme events in which she escapes from being held hostage in a remote village, Vassar finally discovers that there can be balance to her copious planning and Gerd's unstructured LIM-ing. Realizing this breaks her free of self-imposed structures that actually hindered her personal growth, even though she had grand goals of achievement. The moral of the story reminds us that there is a place for plans, but we cannot let our plans keep us from being present and living life to the fullest.

When I say this book was the One, I mean that it came at just the right time in my life. Just reading the back cover, I could tell I would be able to relate to it. Planner? Check. Over-Achiever? Check. Asia? Yes please! I knew what the moral would be and the plot was fairly predictable, but I needed to see Vassar's journey. It can be difficult to overcome the over-achieving Vassar in me, but as she learns in the story, when we focus too much on our plans, we neglect what it means to seize the day and truly live in the here and now. Carpe Diem.