MY BROTHER OLIVER

A sixth grader confronts the reality of suicidal ideation.

Brooks Rutley’s brother, Oliver, isn’t in school this week—he’s in a psychiatric hospital after something terrible happened, something that Brooks feels personally responsible for. Life with Oliver isn’t easy; he has “emotional issues”—he’s cued as autistic as well, although Toalson doesn’t offer a specific label. Oliver has a hard time handling his big feelings and struggles to understand others’ needs. Told from Brooks’ first-person point of view, the text reveals the often-overlooked pressures placed on one child to be “perfect” when another child in the family struggles. It also delves into depression and suicidal ideation, as well as how mental health may intersect with neurodivergence. The story unfolds over nine days, each of which is a separate section with numbered free verse poems that provide bursts of emotional intensity. Flashback sections show readers what happened in the days “Before the Incident.” One of the major questions the book asks is how to live with a person whose needs overshadow your own, and how to care for that person without losing yourself in the process. There’s no simple answer, and the book doesn’t attempt to offer one—but it ends on a hopeful note. Readers will be drawn into this story whether they’ve had similar experiences or not. Characters largely present white.

Approachable, nuanced, and deeply moving.