Melanie, a perfectionist mom who views the approaching end of parenting as a type of death, can’t believe she has only one more year to live vicariously through her slacker senior son, Dane. Gorgeous mom Sarah has just begun to realize that her only daughter, Ashley, has been serving as a stand-in for her traveling husband, and the thought of her daughter leaving for college is cracking the carefully cultivated façade of her life. Will and his wife are fine—as long as he follows the instructions on the family calendar and is sure to keep secret his whole other life with Lauren, the woman he turns to for fun (and who also happens to have a daughter in the senior class). Told from the points of view of both the parents and the kids, The Goodbye Year explores high school peer pressure, what it’s like for young people to face the unknown of life after high school, and how a transition that should be the beginning of a couple’s second act together—empty nesting—might possibly be the end. "Often hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, always engaging. I devoured it!" ~ Meg Mitchell, author of The Admissions
For many mothers, a child's senior year brings about a serious look back on the past eighteen. Every event—from Halloween to Mother's Day—becomes The Last Time. Toni Piccinini knows exactly what that's like, and in The Goodbye Year, she offers the loving support every soon-to-be Empty Nester needs. Think of Toni as your bossy-but-loving Italian auntie, with modern sensibilities and a packed pantry. With the wisdom she's acquired from saying goodbye three times to her own children, she reassuringly holds your hand while encouraging you through the insanity of the college application process, the rejections and the acceptances, and the teary dorm drop-offs. Even better, she reminds every mother that the best is yet to come—freedom, creativity, flexibility, and the Me Years.
From bestselling author Todd Parr, a poignant and reassuring story about loss. Through the lens of a pet fish who has lost his companion, Todd Parr tells a moving and wholly accessible story about saying goodbye. Touching upon the host of emotions children experience, Todd reminds readers that it's okay not to know all the answers, and that someone will always be there to support them. An invaluable resource for life's toughest moments.
Back in grade five, Bridge, Tabitha and Emily made a pact. Never to fight, ever. Now, two years later, they’re still best friends, but other things are changing. Bridge meets Sherm, and is soon excited and confused by her new, strange feelings. And when Emily starts texting pictures of herself to Patrick, Bridge and Tab find themselves complicit in a naïve plan that quickly spirals out of control. And while the three friends navigate the challenges of their changing friendship, another story—of betrayal and remorse—keeps you guessing until the very end. Goodbye Stranger is a tender and intricate story about friendships, and love, and the pain of sometimes making the wrong choices. Rebecca Stead is the author of four novels: First Light, When You Reach Me (a New York Times bestseller and Newbery Medal winner), Liar & Spy (Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize winner and New York Times bestseller) and, most recently, Goodbye Stranger. She lives in New York City with her family. ‘This memorable story about female friendships, silly bets, different kinds of love, and bad decisions is authentic in detail and emotion—another Stead hallmark.’ STARRED Review, Publishers Weekly ‘[Stead] captures the stomach-churning moments of a misstep or an unplanned betrayal and reworks these events with grace, humour, and polish into possibilities for kindness and redemption. Superb.’ STARRED Review, Kirkus ‘Stead shows how strongly love of all kinds can smooth the juddering path toward adulthood. Winsome, bighearted, and altogether rewarding.’ STARRED Review, Booklist ‘[Stead’s writing is] filled with humor, delightful coincidences, and the sorts of things...that escalate in ways that can seem life-shattering to a 13-year-old. The author keeps all her balls in the air until she catches them safely with ineffable grace.’ STARRED Review, School Library Journal ‘Rebecca Stead’s story is multi-layered and sumptuous, beautifully plotted and a real page-turner.’ Alpha Reader ‘An unforgettable book about young girls coming of age written with wit and compassion.’ ReadPlus ‘Goodbye Stranger was such a pleasure to read...[Stead’s] teenage characters are so real, and charming and likeable, even when they’re not making the best decisions...I will continue to sing the praises of this new book well into the rest of the year (and probably much longer).’ Middle Chapter ‘[Stead has] a profound appreciation for the young people she writes for...She creates the kind of situations that would shatter a vulnerable thirteen-year-old girl but somehow manages to do so with a deft, light touch full of empathy and humour.’ Readings ‘Goodbye Stranger is the kind of book you might call a revelation. It is surprising, generous, thoughtful, honest and it paints a picture of the time after childhood and before youth more honestly than I have ever seen depicted.’ Where the Writer Comes to Write ‘The language is often dazzling and the minor characters have great appeal. A very satisfying read.’ Stuff NZ ‘The emotional complexity is deftly done by Stead in a way that is satisfying and accessible for young adults and adults alike, without being patronising, and acknowledging that we all make mistakes along the way.’ New Zealand Book Council ‘Goodbye Stranger falls in the zone of upper middle fiction/young YA, and is a great book to discuss with a tween as it gently preempts teen issues...Stead opens up a discussion of phone use and photos that never veers into shaming or hysteria.’ Leanne Hall, Readings
“Gorgeous, heartbreaking, and ultimately life-affirming.” —Nicola Yoon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything. Perfect for fans of Turtles All the Way Down,Thirteen Reasons Why, and Zentner's own The Serpent King, one of the most highly acclaimed YA novels of 2016, Goodbye Days asks what you would do if you could spend one last day with someone you lost. Where are you guys? Text me back. That's the last message Carver Briggs will ever send his three best friends, Mars, Eli, and Blake. He never thought that it would lead to their death. Now Carver can’t stop blaming himself for the accident and even worse, a powerful judge is pressuring the district attorney to open up a criminal investigation. Luckily, Carver has some unexpected allies: Eli’s girlfriend, the only person to stand by him at school; Dr. Mendez, his new therapist; and Blake’s grandmother, who asks Carver to spend a “goodbye day” together to share their memories and say a proper farewell. Soon the other families are asking for their own goodbye day with Carver—but he’s unsure of their motives. Will they all be able to make peace with their losses, or will these goodbye days bring Carver one step closer to a complete breakdown or—even worse—prison? "Jeff Zentner, you perfectly fill the John-Green-sized hole in our heart." —Justine Magazine “Evocative, heartbreaking, and beautifully written." —Buzzfeed "Masterful." —TeenVogue.com “Hold on to your heart: this book will wreck you, fix you, and most definitely change you.” —Becky Albertalli, Morris Award-winning author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Winner of the California Book Award for First Fiction Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist for First Fiction "A quietly brilliant disquisition . . . told in prose that is so startling in its spare beauty that I found myself thinking about Khong's turns of phrase for days after I finished reading."—Doree Shafrir, The New York Times Book Review Her life at a crossroads, a young woman goes home again in this funny and inescapably moving debut from a wonderfully original new literary voice. Freshly disengaged from her fiancé and feeling that life has not turned out quite the way she planned, thirty-year-old Ruth quits her job, leaves town and arrives at her parents’ home to find that situation more complicated than she'd realized. Her father, a prominent history professor, is losing his memory and is only erratically lucid. Ruth’s mother, meanwhile, is lucidly erratic. But as Ruth's father’s condition intensifies, the comedy in her situation takes hold, gently transforming her all her grief. Told in captivating glimpses and drawn from a deep well of insight, humor, and unexpected tenderness, Goodbye, Vitamin pilots through the loss, love, and absurdity of finding one’s footing in this life.
It’s the start of 2020 and Harper is filled with anticipation about being in the final year of Riverlark Primary. She wants a leadership role, the comfort of her friendship group, and to fly under the radar of Riverlark’s mean-boy. But one by one things go wrong. When Harper’s best friends are made school captains they are consumed by their roles, while her own role — library captain — is considered second-rate. Then something major throws life off course: her parents take overseas jobs as nurses in a war zone. Harper moves in with Lolly, a grandmother she barely knows — and her five pets, vast collection of old trinkets and very different expectations. Just as Harper is getting used to Lolly, the pandemic arrives, and her goodbye year is nothing like she’d hoped it would be. Strange things are happening: she wakes in the night in odd places, fixates on an old army badge that seems to have a mind of its own, and on a visit to the school library during lockdown she’s convinced she’s seen a ghost. Who is haunting her? Can she get through the anxiety of the pandemic without her mum and dad? And will Harper find a way to be happy with her goodbye year? The Goodbye Year explores all the trickiness and confusion of the end of primary school and a new stage of life that looms with all its uncertainties and possibilities. Emily Gale’s books include The Other Side of Summer and its companion novel I Am Out with Lanterns, the Eliza Boom Diaries, Steal My Sunshine and Girl, Aloud, as well as her recent middle-grade collaboration with friend and fellow author Nova Weetman, Elsewhere Girls. ‘Timely and vivid, this brilliant book is a warm hug, a rustle of autumn leaves and the last day of term all rolled into one. I loved every minute spent with Harper, her friends, her sometimes-prickly gran, Lolly, her persistent ghost and her dear little trench dog, Hector.’ Fiona Wood, author of How to Spell Catastrophe
Like other girls, Jutta Salzberg enjoyed playing with friends, going to school, and visiting relatives. In Germany in 1938, these everyday activities were dangerous for Jews. Jutta and her family tried to lead normal lives, but soon they knew they had to escape???if they could, before it was too late. Throughout 1938, Jutta had her friends and relatives fill her poesiealbum???her autograph book???with inscriptions. Her daughter, Debbie Levy, used these entries as a springboard for telling the story of the Salzberg family's last year in Germany. It was a year of change and chance, confusion and cruelty. It was a year of goodbyes
In the tradition of Thirteen Reasons Why and All the Bright Places, The Last Time We Say Goodbye is a deeply affecting novel that will change the way you look at life and death. From New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Hand comes a stunning, heart-wrenching novel of love and loss, which ALA Booklist called "both shatteringly painful and bright with life and hope" in a starred review. Since her brother, Tyler, committed suicide, Lex has been trying to keep her grief locked away, and to forget about what happened that night. But as she starts putting her life, her family, and her friendships back together, Lex is haunted by a secret she hasn't told anyone—a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.
Sarah Dessen meets Morgan Matson in the perfect summer debut about learning to say goodbye—or finding a reason to stay. Caroline is counting the days until September, when she'll turn seventeen and she and her older boyfriend, Jake, will run away together. She doesn't feel connected to anyone at home now that she has him, and she can't wait to see the world with the most important person in her life. So with just a few more months until freedom, she spends her summer working at the local aquarium gift shop and dreaming of the fall. Then she meets Georgia, a counselor at the aquarium's camp, and Caroline's world changes. Through pizza lunches, trips to amusement parks, and midnight talks, Georgia begins to show Caroline there's more to life than being with Jake. The stronger Georgia and Caroline's bond grows, the more uneasy Caroline becomes about her plans to leave. When summer comes to a close, she'll have to say goodbye to someone...but who is she willing to lose?
