Some of the Parts

Starred review from November 30, 2015
Barnaby’s elegant, well-paced novel stands out from others examining the death of a loved one both for its understated writing and for its penetrating exploration of the outer limits of grief and guilt. Sixteen-year-old Tallie is drowning in both emotions after her older brother, Nate, dies in a car accident that took place four months before the book opens. Tallie is both mourning his loss and trying to come to terms with being both “the one who survived” and the car’s driver, as readers soon learn. When she discovers that Nate was an organ donor, she becomes obsessed with tracking down the recipients of his organs, and the novel takes on the feel of a detective story. Her unwilling accomplice is a new boy in town, Chase, who bears a heartbreaking resemblance to Nate and has his own fixation on other people’s deaths. Barnaby (Wonder Show) beautifully brings Nate to life and movingly portrays the relationship between the siblings through Tallie’s fragmented memories. A deeply affecting depiction of moving on after a great loss. Ages 12–up. Agent: Linda Pratt, Wernick & Pratt Agency.

November 15, 2015
Tallie was driving with only a learner's permit the night that her brother, Nate, died in a car crash. Holding the pieces of her life together is hard when no one, from her parents and teachers to her lifelong friends, knows how to act around her. The first one to break through her isolation is a quirky girl named Mel, who makes taxidermy art and who's been Tallie's "companion in limbo" since the accident. Then she meets Chase, a new boy in their small town who creates memorials for people he finds in obituaries. More than anything, Tallie wants to get back to normal. Small rituals help her cope with her guilt, as does working her way through the playlist on her brother's MP3 player. Song titles serve as chapter headings, reflecting the puzzle of Tallie's life. The discovery that her parents donated Nate's organs is a major blow, and in a secret, desperate attempt to hold onto Nate, Tallie tries to find the recipients. Barnaby slowly reveals the cracks in Tallie's emotional veneer through a well-crafted internal monologue. Tallie's vulnerability shows in her inability to say her brother's name aloud and in the way she avoids connecting with her family and friends as she struggles to pick up the pieces and move on. A touching depiction of the pain of grief. (Fiction. 12-18)

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January 1, 2016

Gr 7 Up-High schooler Tallie McGovern is struggling to deal with the death of her older brother, Nate, who was killed in a car accident. She finds it difficult to even utter his name and goes to great lengths to attempt to keep his spirit alive-even participating in a seance. One day, two words arrive in the mail and change the way she feels about his death: organ donor. Her parents never told her that her brother's organs were donated. Posing as one of her parents, she attempts to contact LifeChoice-an organ donation service located in Connecticut. Her friend Chase also has connections through his dad and attempts to find the organ recipients. Sad at times, the novel will resonate with teens, who will feel Tallie's desperation and want her to seek more help for her grief than she does. Her risky attempt seems like something that will never work, but she does make progress, even though her choices are not the best. While Tallie's character development is a long time coming, the plot moves along quickly and is easy to follow. Any teen who has been affected by the death of a loved one will be touched by this story. VERDICT Readers who enjoyed Jessi Kirby's Things We Know by Heart (HarperCollins, 2015) will find this to be an enlightening story tinged with sadness.-Karen Alexander, Lake Fenton High School, Linden, MI

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2015
Grades 9-12 One of the few things Tallie McGovern has to remember her brother, Nate, is his MP3 playera musical time capsule from before his death. It was her fault he died, and the tragedy surrounds her like a fog. When a thank-you note arrives with a letter from an organ transplant organization, Life Choice, Tallie is gripped by the need to make contact with the recipients of Nate's organs, growing increasingly desperate to keep her brother alive. Morris Award finalist Barnaby's sophomore effort treads more serious ground than Wonder Show (2012). Tallie's struggle with her grief and role in her brother's death is gently explored and comes to a head in a dramatic (though not wholly convincing) way. Music courses through the story, as song titles head each chapter, and playlists become a sort of therapy for Tallie, while new friendships help keep her afloat. Teens who like realistic fiction with an internal focus won't be disappointed in this incisive and staid novel about coping with death.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)