Skip to main content

DEAD TO YOU by Lisa McMann


copyright date: February 2012
primarily marketed for: young adults (14 and up)

I started Dead to You by Lisa McMann one night before I went to sleep.  I also finished  Dead to You by Lisa McMann before I went to sleep that night.  I just couldn’t close the book without knowing the end.

Dead to You is the story of Ethan, who was abducted when he was only seven-years-old, returning to his family as a teenager. 

As he tries to adjust to his current life at home as a teenager with his younger brother Blake and new younger sister Gracie, Ethan struggles to make sense of his past.  Blake pushes him to find out why he got into that car with strangers and challenges Ethan’s memory every chance he gets.  Gracie is too young to understand who Ethan really is, since she grew up in their family without him. 

Ethan fights to remember the family he left behind and struggles to understand his need to protect Ellen, the woman who he has known as “mom” most of his life.

Although this is not a fast-paced story, it is filled with the tension of what it takes to rebuild a life after unspeakable trauma. 

I read straight through the night just to find out the truth of Ethan’s past and how it will shape who he is now that he is a teenager.  If you pick this book up, I think you might read it just as quickly!

Reading Threads:
Counterfeit Son by Elaine Marie Alphin
The Tension of Opposites by Kristina McBride
The Year Without Michael by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE LITTLE PRINCE by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

copyright date: 1943 primarily marketed for: everyone The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint- Exupéry was a reread for me.   I read this book for the first time when I was in high school.   All I remembered about it was that I expected it to be too complex for me to understand, and I was surprised when at its charming simplicity.   I always remember feeling like I had a special place in my heart for The Little Prince , but I didn’t remember exactly why. It was written so long ago and is translated from French that it is no wonder I first expected to find its meaning elusive.   However, I am sure that if you pick up this book, it will nestle itself into a special place in your heart as well. Simply, The Little Prince is the story of a clever man who has never lost the child inside of himself and finds himself stranded in the desert after a plan crash.   In the desert, he happens upon the little prince who is traveling to earth from his d...
4 comments
Read more

ONE FOR THE MURPHYS by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

copyright date: May 2012 primarily marketed for: intermediate readers (5 th grade and up) I sort of expected One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt to be one of those overly sappy books with unrealistic, sickeningly sweet characters.  However, although the storyline might make it sound sappy, the characters are realistic and dynamic.  After a traumatic incident that lands both she and her mother in the hospital, Carley Connors is taken away and placed in foster care with the Murphy family.  The only life Carley has known is one of put-downs, food scraps, and shopping for clothes in Salvation Army drop boxes.  Until she meets the Murphys.  The Murphys are too good to be true: Julia, the mom, happily makes home-cooked meals for her three boys and firefighting, sports-loving husband.  In fact, Julia isn’t even rattled by Carley’s rough around the edges attitude.  At first, Carley despises the Murphys and the way they make he...
4 comments
Read more

THE MISFITS by James Howe

copyright date: 2001 primarily marketed for: grades 4-8 In honor of No Name-Calling Week, the idea for which originated with this book, I thought I would post a review of The Misfits by James Howe.    This book has one of my favorite leads: "So here I am, not a half-hour old as a tie salesman and trying to look like I know what I am doing, which have got to be two of the biggest jokes of all time, when who should walk into Awkworth & Ames Department Store but Skeezie Tookis. " I think I like it because it is such an inviting introduction to Bobby and Skeezie, two of the four friends referred to in the book’s title.   Bobby, Skeezie, Addie, and Joe are seventh graders who decide to create their own political party to run in the student council election.   Their goal is simple: to put an end to name-calling.   Who doesn’t think that is a good idea? The wonderful things about this book aren’t limited to the positive messages about acceptance and k...
5 comments
Read more