Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano

 

Edward Adler is famous but he surely doesn't want to be.  When he is twelve, Edward is in a plane crash with his father, mother, older brother and over one hundred and eighty other people.  Edward was the only survivor and is considered a miracle.  Edward does not consider himself that.

This novel is about Edward's life afterwards and how he regains a life he can live with.  When he finally leaves the hospital it is to go live with his aunt and uncle.  He knows them a little but not a lot and he surely doesn't consider them his parents.  He misses his birth family all the time.  He can't sleep in the room they give him as it was the room they wanted to put a baby in.  He meets the next door neighbor and her daughter, Shay, who is his age.  The only place he can sleep is on the floor of Shay's room.

School is a disaster.  Edward had been home-schooled so this is his first experience.  He walks around in a fog barely listening to his teachers, his thoughts constantly circling.  The other children don't like him as he isn't friendly and some consider him lucky with the money he received as a survivor.  But Edward doesn't even realize that they don't like him until Shay tells him.  He talks only to the principal, who involves him in caring for plants, and his counselor, Dr. Mike.  Eventually he starts to eat again and to focus on what is around him but it takes months.

This book was an instant bestseller, an award winner and has since been made into a television series.  Readers cannot help but emphasize with Edward and cheer for him to make it after the accident.  It is not always clear that he will survive and he has to learn that the grief will be with him forever but that there is a life out there if he can only reach out and grab it.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.