Sunday, March 4, 2012

Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur ****

Imagine, if you will, that you're 11 years old.  Not too hard, most of us have been there!  But now imagine that almost all your stability has been taken from you.  And also that you feel you're somehow to blame.
Love, Aubrey is about that situation.  Aubrey's family took a mini-vacation for a weekend & on the drive home though pouring rain a car wreck killed half the family--Dad & little sister Savannah.  Mom & Aubrey try to continue living without them, but Aubrey's mother can't stand living in the same home without them & seeing Aubrey & not the others.  She abandons her.  And Aubrey is on her own.
This is a heart-wrenching book that really delves into the horrible mess that remains after a family tragedy.  From leaving her home & moving many miles away to live with her grandma, to starting over at a new school & trying to make new friends, all while having to deal with the gaping hole of loss in her life, the story of Aubrey's first year without her family is filled with much sorrow but also hope.
I especially liked the way the relationship with her mother is explored.  How do you forgive & trust someone again after they leave you?  How can a mother do that to her child?  How do they have a relationship again?  Also the relationship between Aubrey's mother & grandmother is addressed.  Her grandmother's anger & frustration at her own daughter for abandoning her granddaughter in her hour of need.
A sad book overall, Love, Aubrey is written so kids can grasp some of what it's like to live with tragic loss.

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