Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin


  • Reading level: Young Adult
  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (August 11, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0374320918
  • ISBN-13: 978-0374320911
  • List price: $16.00
  • I finished this book on Jan. 31
So, wow, I literally just finished this book minutes ago. It has left me smiling in a goofy was and feeling all nostalgic and enlightened.
So, here it goes: Liz is 15 (almost 16) and dies in a car accident. And you're all: 'Why are you reading such a bummer?' and I'm all: 'Not even.' Liz finds her dead self on a boat. It takes her a long time to realize she's dead. The boat takes her to a place called Elsewhere where dead people age backwards until they are babies again (at which point they go back to Earth and are reborn). This seems cool to me, but Liz is mad. She wants to turn 16, and she doesn't want to live with her grandmother (who she had never met before) in Elsewhere. Eventually she realizes that life is sort of the same both forwards and backwards.
So, I really liked the book. I dug all the characters, and I spent a good deal of the reading of this book with a really goofy grin on my face. It was funny and creative and sweet. I couldn't have liked the concept more and I thought the writing was really flawless. I am totally loving YA books more than adult books lately. I'm not sorry.
Plus, extra points to Ms. Zevin for a great cover (even though I know she probly didn't pick it) and owning an 'unusually clever' pug dog named Mrs. DeWinter. Double extra bonus points for having a cool website; here.
So, the moral of this story is, it gets the illustrious bee seal of approal. I'm not the only one who dug it, fyi, ALA also listed it as a Notable Book.

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