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Synopsis: “This book is a treasure—a touching story of friendship, loss, and finding beauty in the everyday, with characters who stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page. I absolutely loved it.”—R. J. Palacio, New York Times bestselling author of Wonder
Laurel Snyder, author of Orphan Island, returns with another unforgettable story of the moments in which we find out who we are, and the life-altering friendships that show us what we can be.
The school year is over, and it is summer in Atlanta. The sky is blue, the sun is blazing, and the days brim with possibility. But Leah feels. . . lost. She has been this way since one terrible afternoon a year ago, when everything changed. Since that day, her parents have become distant, her friends have fallen away, and Leah’s been adrift and alone.
Then she meets Jasper, a girl unlike anyone she has ever known. There’s something mysterious about Jasper, almost magical. And Jasper, Leah discovers, is also lost.
Together, the two girls carve out a place for themselves, a hideaway in the overgrown spaces of Atlanta, away from their parents and their hardships, somewhere only they can find.
But as the days of this magical June start to draw to a close, and the darker realities of their lives intrude once more, Leah and Jasper have to decide how real their friendship is, and whether it can be enough to save them both.
My Review:
A feel-good, magical story about a family’s experience with grief and all of the emotions that loss can exhume.
Leah is a young girl trying to find her way after experiencing a devastating loss that she never thinks her family is going to come back from; and then she meets Jasper, a girl who becomes a sliver of light in their world of darkness.
Jasper’s life isn’t typical in any way to Leah, but Leah slowly learns that normal is not a label she aspires her family to withhold. After her families loss she becomes aware that everything is forever different, and Jasper is the friend she needed to ensure her life is lived.
A story of hope, friendship, and family.
Leah is a young girl trying to find her way after experiencing a devastating loss that she never thinks her family is going to come back from; and then she meets Jasper, a girl who becomes a sliver of light in their world of darkness.
Jasper’s life isn’t typical in any way to Leah, but Leah slowly learns that normal is not a label she aspires her family to withhold. After her families loss she becomes aware that everything is forever different, and Jasper is the friend she needed to ensure her life is lived.
A story of hope, friendship, and family.
Will I book talk this to my students? Already have.
Will they check it out? Already have.
Navigating through grief and loss is something a lot of our students are experiencing on a daily basis, and if they are also experiencing such loss - their parents more than likely are too. Laurel portrays this so accurately as I think about how I handle my father's passing a lot more differently than my mother, but we are both still grieving almost two years later. For middle grade students, these stories are needed, they're necessary. For myself, it's comforting to feel that others out there know my emotions - not that all students will want to feel that camaraderie, but a lot also do. This is a story that softly allows them to understand that their grief is okay, their actions are okay, and that yes in the end, everything will be okay. It may not ever be the normal again, but it will be a new normal that as a family they will learn to navigate together.
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About the Author
Laurel Snyder is the author of picture books and novels for children, including National Book Award nominee Orphan Island and the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award winnerCharlie & Mouse. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she currently teaches in Hamline University’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program. She lives in Atlanta with her family and can be found online at www.laurelsnyder.com.
Follow the rest of the book tour here:
Follow the rest of the book tour here:
September 4 Open Book Reviews
September 5 Teachers Who Read
September 6 Nerdy Book Club
September 9 Read Wonder
September 10 About to Mock
September 11 Novel Novice
September 12 Create Explore Read
September 13 Book Monsters
September 16 Maria's Melange
September 17 Writer's Rumpus
September 18 Bluestocking Thinking
September 19 Storymamas
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