First published 2014
Emily arrives at a boarding school in Amherst, Massachusetts carrying the weight of tragedy. Her ex-boyfriend has taken his own life, and she has been sent away to process what happened. The familiar rhythms of academic life cannot quiet the memories that replay in her mind. She remembers their time together, the moments that seemed ordinary then but feel charged with meaning now. Poetry becomes her refuge and her tool for understanding. Through verse, she examines what she could have done differently and what she missed. The words on the page help her untangle her feelings of responsibility from the reality of what occurred. Other students move through their daily routines while Emily struggles to rejoin the world of the living. Writing forces her to confront the relationship as it actually was, not as she wished it had been. Slowly, the act of creation begins to offer something beyond mere survival. Emily discovers that healing does not mean forgetting or absolving herself completely, but learning to carry her experience without being crushed by it.
Genres: literary-fiction, coming-of-age, contemporary, young-adult
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, grief
Setting: Amherst, Massachusetts
Period: 21st-century
240 pages · Library Binding · Delacorte Press
Content warnings: mental-illness, suicide