Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
High school senior Amber Crane bikes home from school one spring day per usual--only to learn that she's been dead for seven years. Stranger still, though Amber's family can see, hear, and touch her, they aren't as she remembers them. Complicated emotions temper joy as Amber struggles to confront past mistakes, "become a better person" than she was in life, and understand the ripple effects of her death, such as her mother's loss of faith, her parents' separation, her sister Melissa's coming out as gay, and a beloved aunt's estrangement from the family. Brief, deliberately paced chapters depict Amber's efforts to make amends and make sense of her situation. Glimpses into the lives that her death changed--for better or worse--are interspersed throughout, including her "Meat Puppet" boyfriend, an aspiring photographer, and a lonely English teacher. Riveting plotting by Forman (Not Nothing) culminates in a bittersweet speculative tour de force that probes what it means to live, to lose, and to love. Amber is white; supporting characters are intersectionally diverse. Ages 14--up. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary. (Jan.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A high school senior returns to her family home--after she's been dead for years. Forman's ability to capture the voices of teens shines in this heart-wrenching story of Amber Crane's life, death, and (sort of) undeath. Amber, who reads white, died seven years ago, but on this day just before graduation, she's standing in her family home, seemingly alive. The first people to see Amber are her mother--who, clearly in shock, starts screaming--and her younger sister, Missy, who's now a blue-haired teenager. Amber doesn't even realize she's supposed to be dead until Missy tells her so. And that's when the work of trying to make sense of what Amber's doing here kicks into gear. Told from myriad points of view--so many, one could get lost--the novel threads together the lives of people in Amber's orbit (and even some who didn't know her directly), incorporating current-day perspectives as well as ones from the past. The story even goes as far back as 29 years, to the day when Amber's parents met. While some of the backstory feels extraneous, and the chapters written from adults' perspectives feel less compelling than those of the teen lead, Forman continually returns to Amber's point of view, grounding her as the heart of this story, a necessary device to keep readers invested in the enduring question: Why is she back? A spiritual, intriguing, though somewhat uneven take on life, grief, and healing. (author's note)(Fiction. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
