The lead in this story is 7th grader Natalie who’s life has been turned upside down as she and her father are learning how to navigate her mother’s depression – the “situation” as her dad calls it that has her mom holed up in her bedroom and not able to cook, work, or keep up any of the routines and traditions that had kept their family together. The first book I want to share with you and one that I hope makes its way into your collection is Tae Keller’s debut novel The Science of Breakable Things. The books this week are: The Science of Breakable Things, The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole, The Simple Art of Flying, and The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise. A loss of another – a loss of what was once considered normal life.

And in two of the novels, that loss includes a parent dealing with mental illness and trauma themselves. In two of the novels, that loss is the death of a parent. They have completely different plots and one is even sci/fi / speculative fiction – but each novel features a main character who is dealing with loss in one form or another. I happened to read these four books back-to-back without realizing how profoundly connected they were. In this segment, I share with you a selection of books centered around a theme and discuss three things to love about each book. Book Talk – Four Novels About Loss and Hope

And I’m also sharing with you a conversation I had with Laura Shovan about her latest book Takedown. This is episode #69 and today I’m discussing four excellent middle grade novels that deal with grief and loss. We’ve had ice storms then sun and lots of time to read. I’m your host, Corrina Allen – a teacher of 21, a mom of two, and enjoying the last few hours of our Winter Break here in Central New York. Hi everyone and welcome to Books Between – a podcast for teachers, parents, librarians, and anyone who wants to connect kids between 8-12 to books they’ll love.

The science of breakable things book