Say What You Will Background

Say What You Will is a contemporary young adult novel by Cammie McGovern, published on June 3, 2014. McGovern is an American author born in Illinois. This novel is her first young adult novel.

The novel is centered around two main characters: Amy and Matthew. Amy has a cerebral palsy disorder, where she cannot walk except with a walker, or talk except with a computerized voice box. Mathew, on the other hand, lives with OCD. Both, apparently, are seen differently in their community, especially Amy. However, Mathew falls in love with Amy because of who she is, which is the main thing that makes McGovern's novel stand out. The two characters face internal and external dilemmas that keep the reader intrigued. In fact, being able to communicate together is a conflict Cammie McGovern successfully and beautifully narrates.

The novel received many positive reviews. For one, it got a 3.7 out a 5-star rating on Goodreads. Katherine Applegate said that McGovern's books are “joyful, inspiring and unforgettable,” One of the readers on Goodreads reviewed it: "Say What You Will is cute, honest and eye-opening. I believe the story is written to give the readers a better understanding of cerebral palsy (CP) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and I admire the author for courageously choosing to write a love story about characters that have these conditions." Lastly, School Library Journal said: "The harsh reality of high school social dynamics (is) authentically portrayed. The main characters are well developed, though secondary characters are little more than background noise."