What You Left Me

Starred review from April 16, 2018
This absorbing first novel begins on graduation day. High school seniors Petra and Martin meet and form an unexpected bond while stuck “in the middle with 876 other sweaty kids” during the long ceremony. The two plan to see each other again at Martin’s graduation bash, but a car accident puts him in the hospital and the party never occurs. While Martin lies in a coma, hovering between life and death, Petra knows his brain is still intact; he’s entered her dreams to let her know, and she isn’t the only person he’s visited. Alternating points of view within chapters and intermingling dream sequences with reality, Morrissey shows how trauma strengthens existing friendships and brings strangers together. Petra relies on her own friends and Martin’s for support as she desperately attempts to relay a message he’s sent her. During the process, she learns some surprising information about the other teens and begins to come to terms with a dark secret that she has been hiding for too long. The extended use of dreams is a risky device, but Morrissey strikes a graceful balance between poetic description and visceral detail, ultimately delivering a tragic, suspenseful, and inspiring novel. Ages 14-up. Agent: Taylor Haggerty, Waxman Leavell.

April 15, 2018
A group of teens finds friendship in the aftermath of tragedy.Petra McGowan, sitting next to Martin McGee at her high school graduation ceremony, is uneasy--readers find out why later--but Martin, friendly and open-hearted, invites her to his post-graduation party even though the two white teens haven't met before. But when Petra and her friends get to Martin's house, they find it empty and silent. Subsequently, they learn that Martin and his best friend have gotten into a drunken driving accident, and Martin is in a coma. The story attempts to unfold: Martin's and Petra's friends forge bonds in the hospital waiting room, and first Petra and then others begin to encounter Martin in their dreams while sleeping, which has the ultimate effect of bringing the two groups of friends together and healing an earlier trauma of Petra's. But too many characters and too many points of view (Petra and Martin tell their stories in alternating first-person, and the other characters interact with dream-sequence Martin in third-person), as well as some seriously convoluted language that just won't quit, terminally obscure the plot. Characterization is one-dimensional and revolves primarily around a disdain for high school and parents. Then there is the gratuitous diversity problem: The Latina, Indian, and black characters exhibit no cultural distinction beyond skin color or speaking Spanish occasionally.A potentially interesting premise is marred by convoluted language, cardboard characters, and dismissive diversity. (Fiction. 14-18)

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