| Description: |
|
Product Description
Bridget Edelstein is taking a year off before she goes to college, to try to recover from the the recent death of Benji, her longtime best friend-turned-reluctant boyfriend. Rather than accept support from her friends or family, Bridget turns to Jasper, a wonderful guy willing to nurse her broken soul–when she lets him. As she comes to terms with life without Benji, and the truth about their relationship, Bridget learns that being able to love deeply and truly is essential, even if the one you love doesn’t feel the same. More importantly, she discovers that happiness pinned to another person is only an illusion–now it’s time to find happiness on her own.
From the Hardcover edition.
Amazon.com Review
"Benji never really wanted to be my boyfriend, just my best friend, but I loved him from the first time I saw him and I didn't know how to stop." And now that Benji is dead, the victim of a senseless car accident, 18-year-old Bridget still can't stop loving him. She defers her first year of college, takes a dull waitressing job at an all-night diner, and sinks into her own special brand of misery, nicknamed The Hole (where "time does not exist" and "bathing is usually optional"). Her therapist, friends, and family all try to console her, but Bridget's depression is unrelenting. Then Jasper comes into her life. Jasper, who brings her sunflowers and notices important things like cool shoes, just might be Bridget's ticket out of The Hole. Yet, something still doesn't feel right. Slowly, Bridget realizes that the one person she never really tried to understand was Bridget: "I've molded myself ... into the kind of person Benji might be persuaded to love because I was too scared to figure out who I really was." It's time for Bridget to become friends with herself, by herself--without Jasper, and maybe, finally, without Benji.
[Lara M. Zeises' Bringing Up the Bones was an honor book for] the Delacorte Press Prize for a First Young Adult Novel for this lovingly crafted ode to the restorative power of the grieving process. Teen devotees of other literary four-hankie reads like A Time for Dancing by Davida Wills Hurwin, and Girlhearts by Norma Fox Mazer will also enjoy crying over Bridget's loss in Bringing Up the Bones. (Ages 14 and older) --Jennifer Hubert
|
