My Brother’s Shadow

Fans of David Almond’s Skellig and Patrick Ness’s A Monster Calls will embrace this deeply affecting middle grade novel in which a girl suffering from terrible grief befriends a mysterious wild boy. When I saw him that first time I screamed—a small and silent scream, all inside, in my gut. Eleven-year-old Kaia, who has felt isolated since her older brother committed suicide more than a year before, befriends a wild boy who mysteriously appears at her London school. Though the boy is mute and can only communicate with a flash of his gray eyes, he might be the friend Kaia needs to bring her through her grief. Here’s a fascinating story, which offers a fresh and completely original portrayal of loss and renewal."e;Readers who love stories of overcoming personal struggles and emotional strife will eat this up."e; —Booklist"e;Fans of realistic fiction... will surely devour Avery’s latest."e; —School Library Journal"e;[Kaia's] confessional narration and self-aware observations yield a believable and haunting portrait of grief."e; —Publishers Weekly

Fans of David Almond’s Skellig and Patrick Ness’s A Monster Calls will embrace this deeply affecting middle grade novel in which a girl suffering from terrible grief befriends a mysterious wild boy. When I saw him that first time I screamed—a small and silent scream, all inside, in my gut. Eleven-year-old Kaia, who has felt isolated since her older brother committed suicide more than a year before, befriends a wild boy who mysteriously appears at her London school. Though the boy is mute and can only communicate with a flash of his gray eyes, he might be the friend Kaia needs to bring her through her grief. Here’s a fascinating story, which offers a fresh and completely original portrayal of loss and renewal."e;Readers who love stories of overcoming personal struggles and emotional strife will eat this up."e; —Booklist"e;Fans of realistic fiction... will surely devour Avery’s latest."e; —School Library Journal"e;[Kaia's] confessional narration and self-aware observations yield a believable and haunting portrait of grief."e; —Publishers Weekly