"I didn't know
best friends could die"
"You will miss her every day of your life.
Sometimes, the memories will bring tears and sometimes a smile.
The memories won't always overwhelm you,
they will bring comfort too."
You HAVE to let this novel, which is partly told in free verse, unfold slowly. Yes, on the day of Sage's 13th birthday her best friend has died but the when and where and how why are found in the journey you take as a reader.
Sage is grappling with her grief and the adult don't seem to have any answers:
If I live long enough to be an adult
and if I have children when I am an adult
I will tell them.
And I will tell them that sometimes
you go to sleep crying
and wake up crying
and that life after losing someone you love
feels like one big ocean of sorrow
and you might feel like you are
drowning,
but always there is something
to hold on to
to keep you afloat.
Sage meets four other students in her school grief group. Ebony's dad died suddenly from a heart attack; Zay's grandmother died in her sleep after a long illness; Ana's twin sister died from leukemia; and DD's brother was murdered by the police. Sage feels that she can relate to Ebony and DD because in both cases the death came suddenly, and these deaths were totally unfair. Sage is sure the death of HER friend is all her fault but how can a car accident be her fault?
There are two rules in the grief group - everyone shares openly and everyone listens with compassion.
DD's brother was murdered:
Now she is a sister familiar with words she's never had to say
so often, know so well; police brutality, death, rage, injustice, press conference
obituary, funeral, casket, hearse, graveyard, protect, indictment, trial, jury, verdict, guilty, sentence,
involuntary manslaughter, memorial, closure?, closure?,
grief, grief.
Sage has her own set of words such as vehicular manslaughter, hit and run, and criminally negligent homicide.
Blue is the empty chair at the desk in the classroom where my best friend used to sit.
Blue is the ache in my heart when I pick up the phone to call her and remember she's gone.
Blue is Aunt Ini's warm hugs.
Blue is a hot mug of cocoa on a cold stormy day.
Blue is all the calm, all the heartbreak,
all the hope
all the tears, all the laughter. ...
For all the blues in the sky,
there are as many blues in the heart.
Just a warning you will be sobbing by the final pages of this book.
Bookseller blurb: Sage's thirteenth birthday was supposed to be about movies and treats, staying up late with her best friend and watching the sunrise together. Instead, it was the day her best friend died. Without the person she had to hold her secrets and dream with, Sage is lost. In a counseling group with other girls who have lost someone close to them, she learns that not all losses are the same, and healing isn't predictable. There is sadness, loneliness, anxiety, guilt, pain, love. And even as Sage grieves, new, good things enter her life -- and she just may find a way to know that she can feel it all. In accessible, engaging verse and prose, this is an important story of a girl's journey to heal, grow, and forgive herself. To read it is to see how many shades there are in grief, and to know that someone understands.
This is a verse novel from 2025 for sensitive mature readers aged 12+ but sadly here in Australia you will need to wait for the paperback edition - the hardcover will be well beyond the budget of most school libraries.
The counselling group in All the Blues in the Sky reminded me of this book:
Other books by Renee Watson:
No comments:
Post a Comment