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Not yet taggedSynopsis
Philip Beard’s stunning debut novel is fifteen-year-old Tess DeNunzio’s letter to her sister, Zoe, lost to a hit-and-run driver on a day when it seemed that nothing mattered but the tragedies playing out in New York and Washington. Dear Zoe is a remarkable study of grief, adolescence, and healing with a pitch-perfect narrator who is at once sharp and naive, world- worried and self-centered, funny and heartbreakingly honest. Tess begins her letter to Zoe as a means of figuring out her own life, her place in the world, but the result is a novel of rare power and grace that tells us much about ours. BACKCOVER: “Like The Lovely Bones, [Dear Zoe] is a piercing look at how family recovers from a devastating loss. Everything about this moving, powerful debut rings true.”
Tags
Is Dear Zoe appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 14 and up.
A deeply moving novel about a teen processing profound grief through a letter to her deceased sister, set against the backdrop of 9/11. Contains mature themes of loss and tragedy but handles them with sensitivity appropriate for older teens.
What to know going in
This book has mild violence, no sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include death of child, death, and grief (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Teens will connect with Tess's honest, authentic voice as she navigates heartbreak and tries to make sense of unimaginable loss while figuring out who she is.