SLJ Starred Review!

A sad story about a girl who has lost her mother. Watching her come to term with what happened to her is an interesting journey- and a touching one. By the end of it I cried. I would definitely recommend this story to anyone who likes tales that are sad in a hopeful way. ( )

When I was little, I thought people died when they used up all their words," begins Abelove's poetic novel about a high-school senior whose mother is dying of a brain tumor. Mindy, whose father refuses to call her anything but her preschool nickname, Neenie, has always seen her mother as the emcee of the family, the one who smoothes things over with Father and sets the stage for him to speak. And speak he does--sometimes in excruciating detail and always with firm opinions--as, for example, when he tells Mindy that if she ever dates a non-Jewish boy, he will sit shivah for her as if she were dead. He does not, however, communicate anything of importance: he offers no guidance to help Mindy select a college, nor does he ever explain about her mother's illness. As the month (November 1961) moves on, Mindy comes to realize the many subtle ways, the ways other than words, she and her mother communicated, and she begins finding other people to turn to for support. Abelove draws this melancholy but ultimately hopeful story with delicacy of word and feeling and creates three powerful, memorable characters in the members of the family. Though in sharp contrast to Go and Come Back, a 1988 Booklist Editors' Choice, and the author's first novel, this proves once again that Abelove can write books that are not only very complex but also vibrant and infused with tenderness. Category: Older Readers. 1999, DK Ink/Richard Jackson, $15.95. Gr. 7-12. Starred Review.

Susan Dove Lempke (Booklist, September 1, 1999 (Vol. 96, No. 1))

Awards:
Best Books for Young Adults, 2000 ; American Library Association-YALSA; United States
The Best Children's Books of the Year, 2000 ; Bank Street College of Education; United States
Booklist Book Review Stars, September 1, 1999 ; United States
Books for You: An Annotated Booklist for Senior High, Fourteenth Edition, 2001 ; National Council of Teachers of English; United States
Middle And Junior High School Library Catalog, Supplement to the Eighth Edition, 2001 ; H.W. Wilson; United States
Parent's Guide to Children's Media, 1999 ; Parent’s Guide to Children’s Media, Inc.; United States
Publishers Weekly Book Review Stars, August 1999 ; Cahners; United States
School Library Journal Book Review Stars, September 1999 ; Cahners; United States
Senior High School Library Catalog, Supplement to the Fifteenth Edition, 2000 ; H.W. Wilson; United States