etc.

I finished working on my course syllabus late yesterday so I spent the last of my Sunday hours curled up in bed with this book. I had reached about a quarter of the way through when I climbed into bed but I knew, just a few pages on, that I would press on until I hit the back cover. Elsewhere is one of those books that takes ahold of you, burrows in, and refuses to allow you to stop turning the pages. It’s about Liz, a fifteen year-old girl who gets hit by a car while riding her bike to the Mall to help her friend Zooey pick out a prom dress (YA? You guessed it). Most of the narrative takes place in Liz’s afterlife (”elsewhere”) where she is forced to confront what it means to have her life end abruptly (”I’ll never get my driver’s license, never go to Prom, never get into college” etc.) and never see her friends and family again. It’s smart and funny and paints as interesting (and inviting!) a picture of the afterlife as I’ve ever read. Thanks for blogging about this book, Moni! And keep the YA recommendations coming.