Dear Zoe

September 11, 2001, launched an era of anguish for our nation, but for young Tess DeNunzio and her family the tragic loss of her 3-year-old sister, Zoe, to a hit-and-run driver gave the date an additional personal blow. Cassandra Morris crafts a tender narration reflective of Tess's struggle with guilt and grief. Although the story is heartrending, Morris manages to lift listeners' spirits with glimpses of Zoe's humor while revealing Tess's core as she works through sorrowful reminiscences filled with intimate details at a time of great crisis, personal and global. Morris captures Tess's spirit, revealing strength of spirit and love. B.J.P. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine

January 24, 2005
A 15-year-old girl struggles to cope with private grief in an age of public catastrophe in this awkwardly conceived but sweet, sure-voiced debut. When her little sister, Zoe, dies after being struck by a car on September 11, 2001, savvy, self-aware Tess DeNunzio works through her grief by writing letters to Zoe. Tess's candid observations about her feelings of guilt (she witnessed the accident) and her mourning process give warmth and clarity to her descriptions of daily life in the aftermath. Not sure how to deal with her bereaved mother and uncommunicative stepfather, Tess moves across Pittsburgh to live with her real dad, an underemployed weight lifter with a good heart. Tess's wise-beyond-her-years sensibility can seem contrived ("That's one of the strangest parts of being a stepchild. You actually get to watch your parents fall in love"), and a morality lesson about the virtues of virginity feels tacked on. Most problematically, however, September 11 feels like a giant peg on which a small (but lovely) coat has been hung. Maybe that's the point, but much more moving are Tess's attempts to cope with the conventional aspects of the loss of her sister. (On sale Mar. 28)

Forecast:
Dear Zoe was about to be self-published when Viking snatched it up. Proper promotion could net the novel some cross-over YA sales. Six-city author tour.