Some of the Parts

Barnaby’s elegant, well-paced novel stands out from others examining the death of a loved one both for its understated writing and for its penetrating exploration of the outer limits of grief and guilt. Sixteen-year-old Tallie is drowning in both emotions after her older brother, Nate, dies in a car accident that took place four months before the book opens. Tallie is both mourning his loss and trying to come to terms with being both “the one who survived” and the car’s driver, as readers soon learn. When she discovers that Nate was an organ donor, she becomes obsessed with tracking down the recipients of his organs, and the novel takes on the feel of a detective story. Her unwilling accomplice is a new boy in town, Chase, who bears a heartbreaking resemblance to Nate and has his own fixation on other people’s deaths. Barnaby (Wonder Show) beautifully brings Nate to life and movingly portrays the relationship between the siblings through Tallie’s fragmented memories. A deeply affecting depiction of moving on after a great loss. Ages 12–up. [em]Agent: Linda Pratt, Wernick & Pratt Agency. (Feb.) [/em]