adult/young adult. Coming-of-age bildungsroman after suddenly losing both parents and becoming the sole caregiver of Alzheimer's-stricken, WWII-vet grandfather (early 1990s Philadelphia, Italian-American main character with diverse friends).
With its tragicomic storyline that feels all too horrifyingly real, No Sad Songs could probably become a modern classic if only more people knew about it. ( )

"Grandpa used to be the one to make demands of me. Now he’s almost completely gone. His brain is, anyway. His body’s as strong as the day he stormed the beach at Normandy. Maybe stronger."

Gabe LoScuda is no ordinary 18-year-old. After his parents die in a car accident, he’s the caretaker of his eighty-year-old grandfather who has Alzheimer’s, and he’s also the “babysitter” of his estranged Uncle Nick, or as his dad put it, “that drunken, good-for-nothing loser kid brother of mine”. Don’t fret. Gabe has a support system. His best friend John “the Asian Michael Jackson” and his new friend and tatoo artist, Sofia Flores, who "is pretty in her own way, but she likes to poke holes in herself”.

As Gabe tries to get his life in order by getting a new job and trying to keep his head above water, another tragedy happens where a little boy down the street is injured by a hit and run driver. And Gabe’s car was identified at the scene of the crime.

See my complete review at The Eclectic Review ( )

I wanted to share a few thoughts here on my debut novel and the motivating factors that ultimately drove me to write it. The Alzheimer's Association estimates almost a quarter of a million people will be diagnosed with Alzheimer's or another form of dementia in the next year alone. Currently, more than five million people are living with Alzheimer's and, by 2050, this number could grow to over sixteen million. Alzheimer's disease is actually the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States. But it's the only cause of death among the top ten in the United States that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed. In fact, one out of every three seniors dies with some form of Alzheimer's or dementia.

What many fail to recognize is how their family members (the caretakers) may also have their lives derailed by the disease. Right now, more than fifteen million Americans provide unpaid care for people with Alzheimer's or other dementias.

I hope young readers will finish No Sad Songs with a new respect for what it takes to be a caregiver, and an understanding of how intertwined these duties become in the lives of people fighting on the front lines of a growing health dilemma that is rapidly approaching epidemic levels. And I want them to be inspired to become champions in the fight against this terrible disease so that future generations will never have to watch their loved ones disappear right before their eyes. ( )