The first Nicholas Sparks book that I read was The Notebook. What a wonderful novel, which pulled me along and kept me reading right through to the end nonstop. Then came Message in a Bottle. I really enjoyed it, too. Not quite as much as the first book, but it definitely had its good points. Unfortunately, A Walk to Remember truly disappointed me. I don't know if it was the tacky setup in the prologue which told me that he was planning to manipulate my emotions right from the start or if it was just the story itself. I didn't laugh. I didn't cry. I believe Mr. Sparks does a much better job of telling a story when he is NOT doing it with the sole intent of emotional maneuvering. I read it and found myself thinking that my 12-year-old daughter might enjoy it when I finished it.