And We Stay

by Jenny Hubbard

[Sam@WLABB]

Once upon a time, there was Emily and Paul. One day, Paul decides to bring a gun to school and confront Emily. He ends up killing himself. This is where the story begins, but this is not the whole story. "And We Stay", tells the story of healing and coming to terms with decisions made. It chronicles Emily's struggle with what had happened, her feelings about Paul, and her feelings about herself.

One of the things I liked about this book, was the writing. It is beautifully written. I like how it alternates POVs, and the real insight into Emily's psyche is through her poetry, which is scattered throughout the book. I appreciated the way the Emily-after related the story of the Emily-before. She would be in a current situation and it would remind her of past events, which would then be related to the reader, and it was done quite seamlessly.

This book also hosts some great characters. Emily does not heal on her own, she has the help of two quirky friends (K.T. and Amber) and her French teacher. Hubbard did a good job giving these characters life and I really appreciated the way she treated Paul, the insight the reader was allowed to have into who he was. In addition, I got to learn a lot about Emily Dickinson, whose poems also play a large role in Emily's road to recovery.