If Only

Debut novelist Geithner, a clinical social worker who was 25 when her mother died, brings personal and professional experience to this story of 13-year-old Corinna’s struggles to carry on in the year after her mother’s death from cancer. Sophie, a musician, dies just months after her diagnosis, leaving Corinna and her goodhearted father to awkwardly navigate their pain and sorrow through school, work, everyday responsibilities, and important anniversaries. Once ordinary comments—“whose mother is going to drive us home from the talent show audition on Thursday night?”—now stab at Corinna. Geithner, wife of secretary of the treasury Timothy Geithner, expertly depicts Corinna’s journey through the stages of grief via the teenager’s straightforward and honest voice. Members of Corinna’s school support group share their stories of parents’ deaths, opening the story up to other grief experiences; supportive faculty, extended family, and a trip to Sophie’s beloved Japan help Corinna and her father find their way toward a life that is rich and joyful, while grounded in poignantly loving memories. Ages 10–14. Agent: Cathy Hemming, McCormick & Williams Literary Agency. (Mar.)