SYNOPSIS:
Nicholas, Kevin. Age 19. Died at York Hospital, July 19, 2012. Kev’s the first kid their age to die. And now, even though he’s dead, he’s not really gone. Even now his choices are touching the people he left behind. Rita Williams-Garcia follows one aimless teen as he finds a new life in his new job-at the mortuary. Ellen Hopkins reveals what two altar boys (and one altar girl) might get up to at the cemetery at night. Will Weaver turns a lens on Kevin’s sister as she collects his surprising effects-and makes good use of them. Here, in nine stories, we meet people who didn’t know Kevin, friends from his childhood, his ex-girlfriend, his best friend, all dealing with the fallout of his death. Being a teenager is a time for all kinds of firsts-first jobs, first loves, first good-byes, firsts that break your heart and awaken your soul. It’s an initiation of sorts, and it can be brutal. But on the other side of it is the rest of your life.

With stories by:
Chris Barton
Nora Raleigh Baskin
Marina Budhos
Ellen Hopkins
A.S. King
Torrey Maldonado
Charles R. Smith Jr.
Will Weaver
Rita Williams-Garcia

WHY SHOULD YOU CHECK IT OUT?
We all have dead people. Even if they are not directly connected to us, the lives of the dead influence our actions and those of people close to us. When we pass on, our death will affect people we may never even have met. This collection of short stories offers a glimpse into the varied ways in which that may happen, which is fascinating and oddly hopeful.

We found the cover, at first glance, to be straight-forward and simple with its green grass and single red rose. Then the gravity of that simplicity, with the straight lines of the open empty grave and the shadowed darkness of the unknown bottom of that hole, really sank in as an effective image.

With stories by Ellen Hopkins (SMOKE, CRANK), Chris Barton (SHARK vs TRAIN), A.S. King (REALITY BOY), and Nora Raleigh Baskin (THE SUMMER BEFORE BOYS), this collection would be a great addition to any bookshelf. This is also the second editorial collaboration for authors Marc Aronson and Charles R. Smith Jr., after PICK-UP GAME in 2011!

EARLY REVIEWS SAY…
The death of Kevin, at once charismatic and tortured, is at the epicenter of this collection of short stories by nine well-known authors for teens… Complex and emotionally demanding, this collection aims for and will resonate with serious readers of realistic fiction.(Kirkus Reviews)

[N]ot unlike Adele Griffin’s The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone, also out this season, the book is built around the influence of a deceased teenager, remembered and considered by those around him. … There are plenty of dots to connect and introspection from adolescents on the precipice of something new and unknown… (Publishers Weekly)

NECESSARY DETAILS
YA Contemporary
Hardcover & ebook,160 pages
Published on August 26th 2014 by Candlewick (ISBN 0763652857)
http://www.candlewick.com/cat.asp?browse=Title&mode=book&isbn=0763652857&pix=n