My Brother's Shadow

Gr 6–9—Kaia is frozen. She has been this way since she found her older brother Moses dead in his bedroom. Her former friends think she's a "freak," her teachers think she's not applying herself, and her mother is frozen herself, stuck in a vicious cycle of despair. Then one day, a wild, silent boy appears at Kaia's school, and she finds someone to whom she can finally relate and open up. This poignant tale of loss and the attempts at closure is poetically recorded, each chapter revealing a bit of the strife that Kaia battles as she struggles to exist in school, to hold on to herself, and to find her way back to the girl she was before her horrendous tragedy. The novel is peppered with Kaia's "Rules for Life," little mantras that slowly evolve and help her to heal as she grows and learns to cope. As the layers of ice she has encased herself in begin to crack, the remarkable girl slowly begins to blossom and she is able to find hope. Avery creates an impressive account of tragedy, and his gentle, melancholic prose establishes the perfect tone for his tale of despair and renewal. Fans of realistic fiction, especially dealing with emotionally jarring, disturbing events, will surely devour Avery's latest.—Ellen Norton, White Oak Library District, Crest Hill, IL