Author: Ami Polonsky
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Similar books: Ruptured by Joanne Rossmassler Fritz
Sky Ropes by Sondra Soderborg
Rating:
.JPG)
Summary (provided by publisher): Stevie Jane Cohen-Kaplan’s sheltered suburban life is shattered by a mass shooting at a festival in her town. In the aftermath, her brain feels broken. She can’t bear to visit her mom, recovering in the hospital under Stevie’s dad’s watchful eye, or to be pent up in her grandparents’ nearby Manhattan apartment.
To escape the apartment and her own thoughts, Stevie starts adventuring around New York City with her best friend, Avi, and a new therapy dog (in training). The trio starts chasing stories—about a neighbor’s life after the Holocaust, Stevie’s grandfathers who died of AIDS long before she was born, and even about her own mom’s activist upbringing. These stories may not bring Stevie all the way back to “normal,” but can they help her find a new version of herself?
My opinion: If Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close had been written for a child audience, the result might be something akin to this novel. It is a bit of a gut-punch read. These are capital B Big topics going on in this story - mass shooting, surviving the Holocaust, the AIDS crisis, and finding your way through PTSD. Each step of Stevie's journey is a painful one. She makes bad choices, can't explain her motivations. But we are deeply invested in her story from the beginning. A word on that beginning - the book opens before the shooting. Over the course of the first few chapters we live that shooting with her (as well as a couple of brief flashbacks). But while the events are described it is in the same fragmented way that Stevie experiences it. While there is no graphic violence there is blood and it may well be upsetting for middle grade readers. It is absolutely respectful but honest, so bear that in mind before selecting this book.
More information: Every Story Ever Told releases October 29
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
No comments:
Post a Comment