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After Eli (2012)

by Rebecca Rupp(Favorite Author)

3.89 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0763658103 (ISBN13: 9780763658106)

languge

English

genre

Middle Grade & Children's

publisher

Candlewick Press

review 1: In this heart-wrenching novel, 14-year-old Danny Anderson recalls the idyllic summer he fell in love with Isabelle, found a true friend in his dorky classmate Walter, and finally came to terms with his brother Eli’s death in Iraq. As a way of coping with his grief, Danny changes his middle name to Eli and begins cataloging a Book of the Dead, listing the various ways people throughout history have died. His brother Eli, shown only through flashbacks, memories, and conversations, is nonetheless vividly realized. As Danny spends more time with Isabelle, her twin siblings Jasper and Journey, and Walter, Danny grows more introspective about life and death. A quiet, poignant book.
review 2: The shape of this book is interesting, with each chapter headed by the na... moreme of a dead person, their date of death, and the cause. Danny, the narrator, deals with time in a fluid manner, moving from past to present and back to tell the story of the effect his brother's death has on him and on his family. He keeps a Book of the Dead, which his father thinks is morbid, but is really Danny's way of coping with the stunning grief he feels. His mother, once a lively, humorous, happy person, has all but shut down; Danny and his father don't relate at all; and Danny himself, bereft of the guide, pal, teacher, and brother he looked up to, doesn't quite know what to do. This is a very smart book with many pithy observations on life and death (Walter is a marvelous character); and the end, when Danny takes matters into his own hands to get his family back on track, is tear-worthy. Readers who like action will not enjoy this story. Readers who like life stories and talking will find something here. Junior high, high school. less

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