The Beginning of Everything

I was halfway through this book when I made my top ten list of YA love stories, so I felt it unfair to add it to my list.  Now that I have finished it, I would definitely move it to the top ten.
I loved, loved , loved this book.  There's just something about first loves that gets me every time.
Ezra Faulkner has it all.  At the end of his junior year, he is class president, captain of the tennis team, and the boyfriend of the most popular and beautiful girl in school.  That changes in an instant.
"I still think that everyone's life, not matter how unremarkable, has a singular tragic encounter after which everything that really matters will happen.  That moment is the catalyst- the first step in the equation.  But knowing that step will get you nowhere- it's what comes after that determines the result." 
Ezra's tragic encounter is with a black SUV that hits his Z4 as he is leaving a party.    His left knee, along with his life, is shattered.  He spends that summer in the hospital, and then physical therapy, learning how to walk again.  Not a single "friend" visits him  in the hospital, just send a card they all signed.  He is replaced on the tennis team, and voted out of his presidency.  All while realizing the life he had planned for himself has taken a sharp turn.
He begins his senior year as an outsider.  Everyone staring as he tries to make it to class with his cane, not sure how to address everyone.  The only bright spot is Toby, his best friend from elementary school who didn't join the popular crowd like Ezra.  They had grown apart, but Toby makes a reappearance and convinces Ezra to join the debate team, since tennis is out.
His first encounter with Cassidy Thorpe is not a very pleasant experience, she is the new girl, mysterious and beautiful.  She transferred from boarding school, and has a reputation of being an unbeatable debater.  Very slowly, they come together.  She takes him to the local community college to sit in on lectures.  She encourages him to apply for Ivy League universities, something he never considered before.  But not everything is perfect.  Cassidy is struggling with something terrible.  Something she feels she cannot share with Ezra, and their relationship is not an easy one.
I think I enjoyed this book because Ezra really changes throughout.  This is truly a coming of age story, and whether the accident, or Cassidy, was the catalyst doesn't matter.  Ezra realizes he was uncomfortable in the popular crowd and makes the decision to change.  
Highly recommended!