A soulfully layered story told with wit and care.
A New Zealand boy reckons with his past and his present.
Eddy Smallbone is mourning the loss of his beloved Labrador, Marley. Her death occurred right around the two-year anniversary of the Christchurch earthquake and his grandmother’s passing. An orphan, he’s been raised by the uncle he calls Brain, a research librarian who’s surrounded Eddy with a coterie of caring adults, including godmother Bridgie, cousin Ginge, and “the Modern Priest.” Eddy’s best friend, Thomas “Toss” Moore, whom he’s in choir and assorted bands with, is recovering from salmonella poisoning. The 19-year-old Eddy has dealt with numerous changes; he dropped out of school just before the first quake, and his internal world has been turbulent ever since, with long stretches of quiet punctuated by sudden bursts of noise. Still, Eddy is processing Marley’s death with action: He takes on new jobs (such as pet sitting and, inadvertently, child care), in addition to working his regular checkout gig at the supermarket. While on a pet-sitting assignment with a nun’s cursing parrot, he bumps into his ex, Boo O’Brien, who injects further complications into his already cluttered world. What follows is an often sweet and sometimes humorous exploration of love, mental health, family, faith, grief, and the past. This sophisticated story weaves in and out of the present day, allowing for a full perspective on Eddy—with occasional commentary from Boo herself—as he juggles reality, responsibility, and hope. Main characters read white.
A soulfully layered story told with wit and care. (Fiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781536232820
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
A prototypical survival story: after an airplane crash, a 13-year-old city boy spends two months alone in the Canadian wilderness. In transit between his divorcing parents, Brian is the plane's only passenger. After casually showing him how to steer, the pilot has a heart attack and dies. In a breathtaking sequence, Brian maneuvers the plane for hours while he tries to think what to do, at last crashing as gently and levelly as he can manage into a lake. The plane sinks; all he has left is a hatchet, attached to his belt. His injuries prove painful but not fundamental. In time, he builds a shelter, experiments with berries, finds turtle eggs, starts a fire, makes a bow and arrow to catch fish and birds, and makes peace with the larger wildlife. He also battles despair and emerges more patient, prepared to learn from his mistakes—when a rogue moose attacks him and a fierce storm reminds him of his mortality, he's prepared to make repairs with philosophical persistence. His mixed feelings surprise him when the plane finally surfaces so that he can retrieve the survival pack; and then he's rescued. Plausible, taut, this is a spellbinding account. Paulsen's staccato, repetitive style conveys Brian's stress; his combination of third-person narrative with Brian's interior monologue pulls the reader into the story. Brian's angst over a terrible secret—he's seen his mother with another man—is undeveloped and doesn't contribute much, except as one item from his previous life that he sees in better perspective, as a result of his experience. High interest, not hard to read. A winner.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1987
ISBN: 1416925082
Page Count: -
Publisher: Bradbury
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1987
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