Avery, Tom. My Brother’s Shadow. Random House, 2014. $16.99 ISBN9780385384872 161pgs. Grades 5 and up, P7Q6
Kaia is having a hard time dealing with her brother’s death. Her mother has turned to alcohol to deal with Moses death. Kaia’s world is falling apart. Then the wild boy appears in Kaia’s life and becomes her friend. He helps her to start talking and start reconnecting with her old friends. Then a car/bike accident happens and Kaia ends up in a coma. This is an intense book and I would recommend it to the upper grade levels. I think that my fifth graders would be confused by the ending and maybe disturbed about the little boy that is suddenly not there. I am not sure if they would make the connection that the boy was never real. November 2014 review by Jo Train.