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1-Page Summary of The Last Song
Overall Summary
Published in 2009, The Last Song is Nicholas Sparks’ fourteenth novel. In 2010, a movie version of the romantic and tragic novel was released. Before that, however, the screenplay for the film had already been written. The Last Song is a coming of age story about Veronica “Ronnie” Miller and how she grows as a person over the course of one summer. It’s told from Ronnie’s perspective in flashbacks from various characters’ points-of-view throughout each chapter.
Ronnie, a 17-year-old girl who lives with her mother in New York City, is rebellious and has turned to crime. She’s alienated from both of her parents. Ronnie abandoned the piano after her father left and hasn’t spoken to him for three years or seen him when he visits New York. Her father used to be a concert pianist but now lives in his hometown on the southern coast of North Carolina where he plays music at church and works on stained glass windows there.
Ronnie’s mother decides to send Ronnie and her brother Jonah on a trip with their father. Jonah thinks this is awesome, but Ronnie thinks that the trip means that her parents hate her.
Kim drives her children to their father’s house in North Carolina. On her son Ronnie’s first day there, he escapes from the house and goes to a seafood festival. He meets Will Blakelee, who accidentally spills his soft drink down Ronnie’s shirt. While cleaning up, Ronnie meets Galadriel (Blaze), who has also escaped from home and is at the festival with friends.
Ronnie and Blaze go to see a show by Marcus, Blaze’s boyfriend. During the performance, Marcus throws fireballs at Ronnie. The police officer threatens to arrest them if they do that again. After the show, they sit under the pier drinking beer. Ronnie leaves when Marcus tries to hit on her while Blaze is not there.
Later in the novel, Steve and Jonah discover a nest of eggs buried in the sand behind their house. The eggs are from an endangered species, so they call the local aquarium to get a cage for protection. Ronnie stays up all night to protect them.
On her way home from the beach, she meets Will. He’s a volunteer for an aquarium and is taping off the area around a nest. She goes to see him at the aquarium where they meet again and develop feelings for each other.
Later in the novel, Ronnie discovers that her father has cancer. He becomes progressively sicker and eventually dies. She finishes a song for him as well as his stained glass window with Jonah and Will. When Pastor Harris installs the window, Kim comes to take Jonah home but Ronnie stays until her father passes away.
Ronnie returns to New York after a summer spent with her father. She is happy about the time they spent together and how she now gets along with her mother. Ronnie spends most of her time practicing piano or hanging out with her brother Jonah. She auditions for Julliard because she wants to be close to Will, who goes to Vanderbilt but surprises her in New York by transferring schools so he can be near Ronnie again.
Nicholas Sparks has been a New York Times best-selling author and his books have sold millions of copies worldwide. One of his most famous novels, The Notebook was published in 1996 and made into a film.
