Fadeaway

April 1, 2018
Fourteen-year-old Sam's life disintegrates when her best friend unexpectedly dies.Sam and Reagan have "been attached at the hip since" they "reached for the same bouncy ball in kindergarten." They're eager to start high school and try out for basketball together. When Reagan's heart stops during a pickup game, a stunned Sam blames herself. A "zombie" during Reagan's funeral, Sam withdraws, surrounded everywhere by reminders of Reagan. Unable to manage without her friend, Sam's lost at school, and her grades dip drastically. Unwilling to play basketball without Reagan, Sam stops training and opts to not try out for the basketball team. Eschewing support from her parents, siblings, and schoolmates, Sam gradually realizes she may just have followed Reagan rather than making her own way. Desperate to talk to her deceased friend, Sam's amazed when an incorporeal Reagan vocally intervenes, urging Sam to resume training, begin studying, try out for basketball, and engage with new friends. Buoyed by this contact with Reagan, Sam begins rebuilding a life without her friend. Stokes' evocation of Sam's crushing grief is effective; even readers will find themselves feeling claustrophobic in Sam's head. Sam's vulnerable, genuine first-person voice lends gravitas to her journey from debilitating loss to eventual emergence as a stronger "Sam-I-am." Sam and Reagan present white, as does their small New Hampshire town.A realistic, convincing, and moving debut portrait of grief and friendship with a basketball subtext. (Fiction. 10-14)

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May 1, 2018

Gr 6-10-Eighth graders Samantha and Reagan were a team, best friends who shared everything and who pushed each other to excel on the basketball courts. Reagan's sudden death leaves Sam feeling half-empty and unable to function. Starting high school and a new team is almost impossible for her, even with the support of teammates, friends, and a cute boy who takes an interest in her. Just when Sam is hitting rock bottom by not taking care of herself and failing in school, she begins to hear Reagan's voice offering advice and encouraging her to push herself. Sam finally realizes that she can be whole and not just half of "Sam &Reagan"; she starts to apply herself, take an interest in basketball, and reach out to the people around her. Sam is a fairly likable character and readers will empathize with her, but other characters are not as well developed and the dialogue doesn't ring true. After the initial shock of Reagan's sudden passing very early in the book, the plot is fairly predictable and moves slowly to an unresolved conclusion. VERDICT An accessible choice for reluctant readers and basketball fans who might appreciate the game action and sports references.-MaryAnn Karre, Binghamton, NY

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 30, 2018
As a rising ninth grader, Sam expects to dominate the high school basketball courts with her best friend, Reagan. Then Reagan suffers fatal heart failure, sending Sam into a major depression. Stokes’s uneven debut features a sympathetic protagonist and a likeable cast of supporting characters, including Sam’s supportive brothers; her health-food nut mother and donut-sneaking father; her potential romantic interest and golf buddy, “Goth Boy” Kevin; and Reagan, who reappears only to Sam and engages her in affectionate, “morbid and ghoulish” banter. Sam’s grief, her search to discover her identity after being part of an inseparable twosome, and her family and friends’ frustration at not being able to help ring true. While some of the story’s conflicts, such as an ongoing power struggle with her algebra teacher, feel forced, this novel offers an affecting portrait of a loving friendship that outlasts death. Ages 10–14. Agent: Melissa Nasson, Rubin Pfeffer Content.

Starred review from April 15, 2018
Grades 5-8 *Starred Review* Sam and Reagan eat, sleep, and breathe basketball. About to enter high school, the girls spend summer looking forward to making the varsity team, dreaming of eventual triumph someday as WNBA players. Then, during a pickup game, Reagan falls to the floor and never rises, the victim of a heart problem. Sam is devastated, and the following weeks prove a struggle to put one foot in front of the other, never mind run down a court. One day though, Reagan is there. While it's tricky bringing in a ghost as a narrative ploy?too much emphasis on the otherworldly can throw an otherwise realistic story off-kilter, while calling reality into question risks a loss of sympathy?Stokes handles Reagan's spirit in such a way that it's never an insult to think she may be just a manifestation Sam can't let go of until she's ready. As long as Sam feels Reagan, she's able to bring up slumping grades, befriend a goth-looking, golf-loving boy in her math class, and finally go out for the basketball team. When things go too far though, and Sam's suddenly passing the ball at an important game to a nonexistent Reagan, self-care and family see her through. This story of grief rings true at every juncture, with the added plus of engrossing descriptions of games and basketball strategy. A slam dunk of a debut.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)