My Brother’s Shadow

Just over a year ago, 11-year-old Kaia White found her older brother, Moses, dead, and her life has been a “hazy, jagged dream” ever since. Kaia has stopped doing her homework, pushed her friends away, been taunted at school for her distant behavior, and been neglected by her Mum, who loses her job and drinks. Worry consumes Kaia until an unnamed, wild boy appears at school in “dirty, raggedy clothes”; he darts around and speaks only in animal sounds. Despite the fact that the boy never speaks to Kaia, he provides a needed distraction, shaking Kaia out of her “frozen stuck” mind-set and becoming her nonjudgmental confidante and amusing companion. Kaia’s road to recovery is paved with a strong interest in trees, a resilient ex-friend, and Moses’s remembered “Rules for life” (“Memories are like a cup of tea—don’t hold them too tight”). British author Avery (Too Much Trouble) immerses readers in Kaia’s heavy thoughts and dreamlike, trapped state. Her confessional narration and self-aware observations yield a believable and haunting portrait of grief. Ages 9–12. (Sept.)