All That's Bright and Gone

Starred review from October 21, 2019
Six-year-old Aoife Scott, the narrator of Nellums’s impressive debut, worries about her mother, Siobhan, after Siobhan is sent to the hospital following a disturbance outside Michigan’s Westgate Mall. Aoife is puzzled about the delay in her mother’s return home and the vagueness of her beloved lawyer uncle, Donny Scott, about her mother’s situation. Aoife is equally mystified by conflicting information about her dead brother, Theo; the silence around Theo’s parentage and demise; the role of her mother’s “special friend,” Marine veteran Mac Corey; the hostility of her neighbor, Mr. Rutledge; and the odd nocturnal behavior of Uncle Donny. Inspired by her imaginary friend, Teddy, and her actual friend, eight-year-old fledgling detective Hannah, Aoife sets out on a path of discovery that entails risk to herself and her loved ones. Through the honest, winning, and convincing Aoife, Nellums provides ample evidence that the most important mysteries are those that lie closest to home. Fans of Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce novels won’t want to miss this one.

December 15, 2019
Six-year-old Aoife Scott misses her big brother, Theo. Her mom, a single parent in suburban Detroit, told her he went away, which is the same thing Aoife was told about her grandmother, whose grave they visit. But no one will talk to her about him. Neither will they acknowledge her imaginary friend Teddy. One day, her mother has a breakdown at the mall, Aoife is taken by social services, and her Uncle Donny is called in to stay with her. Aoife enlists her eight-year-old neighbor, Hannah, to help solve the mystery of Theo, and Aoife, of course, has her imaginary friend Teddy go on the adventure with them. Together the girls search Theo's room for clues and explore the park Aoife recalls as being Theo's favorite spot. Told entirely from Aoife's perspective, this first novel blends elements of literary fiction and domestic thrillers to explore the power of secrets, the resilience of children, and their ability to understand matters far beyond their years, if given a chance.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)