Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Rest of the Story
    The Rest of the Story
    The Rest of the Story
    Audiobook12 hours

    The Rest of the Story

    Written by Sarah Dessen

    Narrated by Rebecca Soler

    4.5/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    From #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah Dessen comes a big-hearted, sweeping novel about a girl who reconnects with a part of her family she hasn’t seen since she was a little girl—and falls in love, all over the course of a magical summer.

    Emma Saylor doesn’t remember a lot about her mother, who died when Emma was twelve. But she does remember the stories her mom told her about the big lake that went on forever, with cold, clear water and mossy trees at the edges.

    Now it’s just Emma and her dad, and life is good, if a little predictable…until Emma is unexpectedly sent to spend the summer with her mother’s family that she hasn’t seen since she was a little girl.

    When Emma arrives at North Lake, she realizes there are actually two very different communities there. Her mother grew up in working class North Lake, while her dad spent summers in the wealthier Lake North resort. The more time Emma spends there, the more it starts to feel like she is also divided into two people. To her father, she is Emma. But to her new family, she is Saylor, the name her mother always called her.

    Then there’s Roo, the boy who was her very best friend when she was little. Roo holds the key to her family’s history, and slowly, he helps her put the pieces together about her past. It’s hard not to get caught up in the magic of North Lake—and Saylor finds herself falling under Roo’s spell as well.

    For Saylor, it’s like a whole new world is opening up to her. But when it’s time to go back home, which side of her—Emma or Saylor—will win out?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJun 4, 2019
    ISBN9780062938640
    Author

    Sarah Dessen

    Sarah Dessen is the number one New York Times bestselling author of over a dozen novels for teens, which have received numerous awards and rave reviews. Her books have been published in over thirty countries and have sold millions of copies worldwide. She currently lives in North Carolina with her family.

    More audiobooks from Sarah Dessen

    Related to The Rest of the Story

    Related audiobooks

    YA Romance For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Till We Meet Again

      Aug 25, 2023

      Till We Meet Again
      5 min read

    • Article

      Witness

      Jun 9, 2020

      My sister threw open the door so that it banged against the little console table she kept by the entrance. “Silas,” she said breathlessly, before even removing her coat, “I have to tell you something.” Which was enough to make me feel trapped, as tho

      25 min read

    • Article

      INSIDE And Out

      Jul 12, 2022

      INSIDE And Out
      6 min read

    • Article

      Let The Daisies Grow

      Feb 2, 2021

      Let The Daisies Grow
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Sisters Room

      Feb 25, 2023

      The Sisters Room
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Writing On THE WALL

      Apr 6, 2021

      The Writing On THE WALL
      6 min read

    • Article

      Heave’s Whisky

      Feb 27, 2024

      Heave’s Whisky
      7 min read

    • Article

      Hidden SECRET

      May 30, 2023

      Hidden SECRET
      9 min read

    • Article

      Lineal Gaps

      Apr 6, 2021

      Lineal Gaps
      15 min read

    • Article

      The village PEOPLE

      Mar 5, 2023

      A great chat with the queen of talk back And finally, finally Mum is in her new apartment at The Orchards. I have just this minute left her, happy as a bivalve, sitting in her new armchair in the place she can now call home. Craig, the lovely mainten

      2 min read

    • Article

      Mom’s Plan

      Sep 24, 2022

      Mom’s Plan
      3 min read

    • Article

      Hidden SECRETS

      Sep 15, 2021

      Hidden SECRETS
      9 min read

    • Article

      A PRECIOUS Moment In Time

      Jun 17, 2019

      There’s something about Lambrook Hall that always draws me back and I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve been here. I don’t really care if it’s hundreds, to be honest. I can’t resist it. I’m in the dining room again now. Not the ballroom or the lib

      6 min read

    • Article

      Guests

      Jun 15, 2019

      The month after our mother died, our father began bringing women home. It felt like a behind-her-back kind of operation. “I’m going to have a guest over tonight,” is what he would say. David and I stayed out in the living room, turned up cartoons, bu

      11 min read

    • Article

      Women and Men Made of Them

      Sep 15, 2019

      Mary Ann lived near me in Baton Rouge, then she was in Memphis. She’d told me they could never return. Return to this life, she meant. Her husband, Knox, I’d hated, and he’d been called, of all things, a kind man. People called him good, gentlemanly,

      14 min read

    • Article

      A Perfect Wedding

      Apr 6, 2020

      A Perfect Wedding
      5 min read

    • Article

      The DATING GAME

      Apr 2, 2024

      The DATING GAME
      8 min read

    • Article

      Mom’s Plan

      Mar 30, 2024

      Mom’s Plan
      3 min read

    • Article

      Close to My Heart

      Oct 27, 2020

      Close to My Heart
      6 min read

    • Article

      DANCING Doing The Dishes

      Aug 17, 2022

      DANCING Doing The Dishes
      3 min read

    • Article

      Shanda

      Jan 1, 2024

      Shanda
      13 min read

    • Article

      Yellow Is the Color of Choices

      Dec 10, 2023

      For whatever reason, when she sees me each weekend, Megan still hugs me like when she was five. Her skinny arms wrap around my waist, and her eyes squeeze tight like she’s absorbing me into her skin. This is both heartening and heart-wrenching. I wan

      13 min read

    • Article

      Love Sounds

      Oct 10, 2022

      My daughter’s getting married. She is thirty-two and beautiful. I remember—it seems like just the other day—when she was sprawled and breathless. There she was, flat on her back, covered by pink panda pajamas, the odor of sleep drenched in her pillow

      13 min read

    • Article

      All The Different SHADES

      Jul 6, 2022

      All The Different SHADES
      6 min read

    • Article

      Hauntings

      Jul 5, 2023

      Hauntings
      11 min read

    • Article

      Just The Way YOU ARE

      Feb 7, 2023

      Just The Way YOU ARE
      9 min read

    • Article

      Begin Again

      Jun 14, 2022

      My grandfather came to live with me. There was nowhere else for him to go. What had happened to all his children? Death, decay, exile—I hardly know. My own parents died of pain. But I must not be too gloomy, at the beginning, or you will leave me, an

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Last Friend on Earth

      May 4, 2023

      It was as if Doreen Saunders had been waiting for me, passing the time until my arrival. She might as well have been sitting in a rocking chair, knitting needles clicking, jam tarts cooling on the side, the door wide open, waiting for the next visito

      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Rest of the Story

    4.5/5

    286 ratings17 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      AMAZING BOOK! Wish there was second one! Wish I went there every summer:)
    • 5/5
      Love Sarah Dessen books! Just want the stories to keep going!!?
    • 4/5
      An adorable and wholesome summer read about growing up and coming home. Classic, Sarah Dessen.
    • 4/5
      3.7 stars
      this is my second book of Sarah Dessen and I like it more then Once and for All.
      this story was about Emma Saylor learn about her mom's family. at first I thought it's would be more tragic though, about her mom and Roo's dad. I even convinced when her dad get mad when Emma hangout whit Roo but tune out he just didn't want her to be like her mom.
      It's was okay for me I enjoyed reading this and would pic Sarah Dessen's book again.
    • 4/5
      Emma Saylor suddenly finds herself at her deceased mother’s home for the summer where she has family who knows her--but she doesn't remember at all. They also know stories of her mother she’s never been told. Some that dad has wanted to protect her from. When Emma/Saylor finds out she’s thought of as the “spoiled rich cousin,” she sets out to change everyone’s opinion of her, and find out for herself who she really is, Emma or Saylor, and where she is from. Working at her Grandmother’s motel, cleaning rooms, goes a long way to keeping her busy, and helping her to fit in. She gains insights into family, friendships, and more.

      “But all my life I’d felt more like an observer than an active participant…. Maybe there was a middle ground between living too hard and living at all, Maybe, here, I was finding it.” (Saylor p. 223)

    • 1/5
      I really enjoyed the beginning of this one. Once Emma gets to the Lake though, things slowed down. I had some issues with pacing and it lost my interest. I ended up DNF this one.
    • 5/5
      I loved this one of course. This book makes me want to go on vacation to a lake or the ocean. I also want to read even more about Emma Saylor, like what happens with Roo. Dessen writes about such real characters who you can empathize with and root for.
    • 3/5
      "The Rest of the Story" was a cute, although fairly average, read. Saylor and Roo were nice characters and their romance was sweet but there was nothing compelling or interesting about either of them. In fact, I found Saylor, especially, very bland with little personality.There are a LOT of family issues in this novel. Saylor's extended family was large and messy, and at times it was difficult to keep track of them all. Also, there were a number of unnecessary characters who had small roles and did not enhance the plot in any way.Sadly, I've never been a big fan of Sarah Dessen and I think this will be the last time I bother reading any of her books.
    • 5/5
      What a lovely well written story.Emma (to her father) Saylor to her mother's family.Emma Saylor's parents met one summer at North Lake; her mother from the working class shore, her father from the summer visitor's shore. After they married & divorced; Emma Saylor's mother died of a drug overdose. When Emma Saylor's father remarries he leaves Emma Saylor with her mother's family as he & his new wife spend their honeymoon in Greece.Emma (now Saylor) works hard to fit in with a family she does't remember and just as she settles in her father & stepmother return, but to the other side of the lake for an additional two week stay, forcing Saylor into an uncomfortable situation attempting to move her father into acknowledging the person Emma-Saylor really is & her kinship with her mother's family.I really enjoyed this book.
    • 4/5
      Review: The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen Here is a summary of what the book is about. Emma Saylor doesn’t remember a lot about her mother, who died when Emma was twelve. But she does remember the stories her mom told her about the big lake that went on forever, with cold, clear water and mossy trees at the edges.Now it’s just Emma and her dad, and life is good, if a little predictable…until Emma is unexpectedly sent to spend the summer with her mother’s family that she hasn’t seen since she was a little girl.When Emma arrives at North Lake, she realizes there are actually two very different communities there. Her mother grew up in working class North Lake, while her dad spent summers in the wealthier Lake North resort. The more time Emma spends there, the more it starts to feel like she is also divided into two people. To her father, she is Emma. But to her new family, she is Saylor, the name her mother always called her.Then there’s Roo, the boy who was her very best friend when she was little. Roo holds the key to her family’s history, and slowly, he helps her put the pieces together about her past. It’s hard not to get caught up in the magic of North Lake—and Saylor finds herself falling under Roo’s spell as well.For Saylor, it’s like a whole new world is opening up to her. But when it’s time to go back home, which side of her—Emma or Saylor—will win out?I enjoyed reading this book. I found it to be interesting. I thought the book was written very well. This is the first book I have read of Sarah Dessen. I am looking forward to reading more books by this author. Happy Reading Everyone!
    • 5/5
      When her plans to stay at her friend while her father and his new wife take their honeymoon fall through, the only place for Emma Saylor Payne to go is to her mother's family on a lake. The last time Emma was there was 13 years ago when she was four when she stayed for two weeks. There she was known as Saylor, not Emma. Her grandmother, Mimi, who owns a motel, told the family that Emma was on vacation and leave her alone...and alone was what she was, while the rest of the family ran the motel and did other jobs in town.Her dad never talked much about her mother who was addicted to alcohol and drugs. He was always trying to protect her. Now, among her estranged family, the story of that family side comes out slowly but surely as she remembers details of her last visit and everyone else fills in the blanks. This is a little different for Sarah Dessen, but actually somewhat more meaningful than many of her past books. It is totally enjoyable. My only criticism is that Emma is so placid when it comes to her dad dictating what she can and cannot do---as a seventeen year old, I'd imagine she'd be a bit more rebellious. But, criticism aside, I really like the book and its characters.
    • 4/5
      Emma Saylor doesn't remember a lot about her mother, who died when Emma was twelve. But she does remember the stories her mom told her about the big lake that went on forever, with cold, clear water and mossy trees at the edges. Now it's just Emma and her dad, and life is good, if a little predictable—until Emma is unexpectedly sent to spend the summer with her mother's family which she hasn't seen since she was a little girl. When Emma arrives at North Lake, she realizes there are actually two very different communities there. Her mother grew up in working class North Lake, while her dad spent summers in the wealthier Lake North resort. The more time Emma spends there, the more she feels she is also divided. To her father, she is Emma. But to her new family, she is Saylor, the name her mother always called her. Then there's Roo, the boy who was her very best friend when she was little. Roo holds the key to her family's history, and slowly, he helps her put the pieces together about her past. It's hard not to get caught up in the magic of North Lake, and Saylor finds herself falling under Roo's spell as well. For Saylor, it's like a whole new world is opening up to her. But when it's time to go back home, which side of her—Emma or Saylor—will win?
    • 4/5
      The summer Emma Saylor is seventeen, her dad has just remarried (she couldn't be happier for him) and her mother died several years ago after battling painkiller addiction and alcoholism. The plan is for her to stay with her friend, but when that can't happen she has to make a last minute switch and visit her mother's side of the family on Lake North for three weeks. But what started out as an inconvenience may turn out to be just what Emma - or maybe Saylor - needs to discover herself.Sarah Dessen's stories have become summer for me just like Elin Hildebrand is for many of my adult patrons. Her teen girls coming of age are go-to reads of mine ever since grad school in 2007-08. But I'm starting to see a subtle shift in my reading now that I'm closer in age to the parents (in this one they were four years older than me) than the teens. In fact, I probably would've related to it a lot at the age of 17, because a lot of the self-discovery Emma goes through is learning that she can test the boundaries and not just be the good kid. This one fell a little flat for me, and I'm not quite sure why.
    • 4/5
      How could someone know you better than you knew yourself? Especially if they really didn't know you, not at all? from The End of the Story by Sarah DessenThe Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen takes place on one lake with two communities: the upscale tourist resort Lake North and the working class North Lake with its ramshackle cabins. Emma Saylor's mom came from North Lake; her dad was a summer sailing instructor at Lake North. Their marriage ended in divorce, and then Emma's mother died. Emma's father doesn't talk about her mother's roots. Circumstances bring Emma to stay with her maternal grandmother in North Lake for three weeks during the summer. Her grandmother and cousins are strangers to Emma. But the Calvanders know all about her--Saylor. Over the summer, Emma becomes Saylor, learning her mother's history, growing to love her mother's family, and taking the risks she has avoided all her life. You can make your life, or life can make you, she learns. This was a nice summer read with great characters and lake ambiance while touching on deeper themes of class, anxiety issues, alcoholism, identity, and self-determination. Plus, there is a touch of romance. The hard-working, hard-partying teenager world is well developed, and a crisis brings a happy ending. I won a copy of the book in a giveaway on The Quivering Pen run by David Abrams, author of Fobbit and Brave Deeds. My review is fair and unbiased.
    • 5/5
      Emma Saylor’s mother overdosed when she was just a little girl. Now seventeen, she’s spending three weeks with her mother’s side of the family until her father returns from his honeymoon. Though she hasn’t seen them since she was four, her grandmother, aunt, and assorted cousins love her unconditionally. They’d known her as Saylor – the name only her mom called her, giving her the chance to decide if she wanted to be known as Emma or Saylor.Living in a motel on a lake with teens who all have jobs felt strange, but she pitches in to help while learning stories about her mom that begin to give her a sense of the person she’d never really known. Emma was cautious, and organized things to stay calm, however, she decides to become Saylor at the lake. There she’s someone who comes alive with the help of her new family and the very handsome Roo, whose memories of her mother intertwines with that of his father in his family photo album.Just as Saylor begins to feel as if she’s part of lake life, her father returns and insists she leave and become Emma again. How can she make him realize she’s also Saylor, and that she’s changed? Learning her mother’s story helped her see herself in a new way, something Roo and her lake family made happen.I loved this book so much!! Sarah Dessen always writes great stories, and she did not disappoint me. Reading about Emma Saylor and her family made me feel as if I was out on the lake with them, suffering through their troubles and cheering on their successes. Readers are invested, which is a sign of a great writer.Highly recommended for ages 15 and older.
    • 5/5
      I haven't read a Sarah Dessen book in ages - but my lord - did she become an even better writer? Or was I just so nostalgic to get back to her work that I ate this up? Either way, she's the queen of teen for a reason - this was a wonderful young adult contemporary romance with themes of identity, addiction, and family issues. Emma Saylor thought she knew how her summer would play out, hanging at her best friends house while her dad and new step mom honeymooned - but one family emergency later - Emma finds herself without a place to stay for the summer. It's eventually decided that she should go to the lake to spend the summer with her mother's family even though she hasn't seen them since she was four. As she gets to know her grandma, cousins, and other lake folk - she starts to piece together her mother's past and think more about her future. A wonderful coming of age story. I couldn't put it down!
    • 5/5
      Wonderful story about a daughter without a mother getting to know the mother's side of the family over one summer.**I was given an advanced reading copy from Harper Collins but this did not in any way influence the rating I gave.