[I received an electronic ARC/ review copy of this book from Netgalley and Orca Book Publishers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
Abby is furious with her father. She does NOT want to spend her weekend at some grief retreat. She’d rather be at soccer – with friends, running around, not thinking about how it is almost Mother’s Day and her mother is dead. If only a heart transplant had come through for her sooner, or if she had not even gotten sick at all.
Christopher isn’t quite as reluctant about the grief retreat as Abby. His main worry is that someone will find out exactly HOW his father died. His mom assures him that the retreat leader, Eugene, is the only one who will know. But Christopher still walks in with his defenses up.
The other kids in the group are Gustavo who has been to grief retreat before because of his father’s death. As a seasoned participant, he helps Eugene with the group activities. Antoine and his moms are grieving the loss of Antoine’s little brother who died from SIDS. And Felicia is there because both of her parents died.
As Abby and Christopher experience grief retreat and participate in some exercises to help them with their losses, they are surprised by the things they learn about their fellow group members – and about themselves.
Review
This is an emotional and touching story. And it is so well written. I felt like the grief and emotions expressed by the characters were completely on target. I felt them and understood them. The complicated experience of grief was portrayed in a way that middle grade readers can understand. I think kids who have experienced loss could read this and feel understood. They might even get some new insights into their own grief experience. Kids who have not experienced death have a chance to gain insight and empathy by reading the experience of these characters.
I think this book could find a home in every single classroom and school library as well as home libraries. For those who tend to avoid books with gay characters due to religious reasons, I think the two moms in this story (who are never in a scene together due to the extreme grief of one of the women) are a small part of a much larger – and much more important – story. I think the value of this book to grieving kids and their friends far outweighs any questions the kids might have about a character with two moms.
I highly recommend this story.