2021 Book Review #30:Dear Edward

 

This is a new-to-me author and my sister Joy loaned me this novel.  WOW.  Super good!!

It's told in the voice of a 12 year old little boy.  And then a couple of years pass by and he's talking as a 15 yr old.  SO good.

STORY SUMMARY

It's a summer morning and 12 year old Edward, his 15 year old brother Jordan and his parents Jane and Bruce, are flying from their beloved home in NYC to their new home in LA. They are on a plane with 183 other passengers.  A little more than half way across the country, the plane crashes.  Everyone on board is killed. Except Edward.  He is the only survivor.

 The nation becomes riveted with his story. His mother's sister (his aunt) Lacey and her husband (uncle) John take him in.They live in New Jersey outside NYC.  Lacey has struggled with the loss of multiple pregnancies and they want Edward to have what was going to be the nursery as his bedroom. He struggles with this.  In fact, he struggles with everything about finding a new place in the world...without his own family. 

Part of him feels like a piece of himself is still in the sky....tied to the plane and all of the fellow passengers.   And then he makes an important discovery with his friend Shay, the teen  girl who lives next door. He begins to understand all the ways that Aunt Lacey, Uncle John, Shay, his teachers, and neighbors have stepped in to help him and care for him. 

Edward learns that the transforming power of genuine kindness can lead his broken heart into a place of  love. 

MY THOUGHTS

This is a feel good novel.  It's heart- warming, wrenching, powerful and important all at the same time. 

It teaches the reader about the transformative power of kindness, grace, and love.

The characters are varied and so well developed!  I felt like I wanted to talk with Edward and Shay.  I wanted to know Mr Arundhi and Mahira. I wanted to wrap my arms around 12 year old Edward and hug his parents and brother. 

I LOVE that the author also developed some of the passengers and that as the reader, we see a glimpse into their lives and the people they left behind.  It's very powerful the way these people come back into Edward's lives via letters he finds.  I don't want to give too much away about this in case you want to read this book, but it was very well done and very compelling.

There were a couple of quotes I really liked that seemed to jump out at me:

"....I want to know what to do"......"That's easy.  The same thing we all must do.  Take stock of who we are, and what we have, and then use it for good." (pg 291 Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano c. 2020)

"Dear Edward....... This was not a tragedy.  Dying on  your couch watching TV by yourself is a tragedy.  Dying while doing something you love with every part of your body is magic.  I wish you magic, Edward......." (pg 298)

"Moonlight beams through  his eyelids and he can see, as if it's the lake in front of him, the pain and loss he's been swimming in for years. In the moonlight, though, the pain is revealed to be love.  The emotions are entwined; they are the two sides of the same gleaming coin." (pg 312) 

"What happened is baked into your bones, Edward.  It lives under your skin. It's not going away. It's part of you and will be part of you every moment until you die. What you've been working on, since the first time I met you, is learning to live with that." (pg 317) 

Reading this book...about tragedy....teaches us that we can find joy...even in the midst of  the tragic events.  

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 14 and older.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 10.