When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney

When You Were Here

by Daisy Whitney

Danny's mother died three weeks before his graduation.

She had cancer for 5 years, and all she ever wanted to do was to make it to Danny's graduation, she said. But she couldn't even make it the last three weeks, like she promised. And now Danny is left alone, with the empty house and the memories, having to figure out what to do with her estate and what to say for his Valedictorian speech now that his mom is gone. When he gets a letter from his mom's property manager in Tokyo, where his mother had been going for treatment, it paints a picture of a side of his mother he never knew. And he knows, when he gets this letter, that the only way to ever settle his grief over her loss is to go to Tokyo and discover everything he can about her love affair with that city.

Through all that, When You Were Here has humor and warmth, a great dog named Sandy Koufax, an estranged love, and a Japanese friend who is almost-but-definitely-not a Harijuku girl, and whose manic joy for life and sponge cake are the exact thing Danny needs to pull himself through the days and come to terms with his mother's death.

Reviewed by Cocktails and Books on

4 of 5 stars

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This was one of those books that as I read it, the constant question that ran through my mind was "How much more bad stuff can this kid endure?"

Danny Kellerman is a few days from graduation and a summer that should be filled with fun, his dog Sandy Kolfax, and his girl. Instead Danny is left dealing with the aftermath of his mother's death and trying to figure out what he's supposed to do now. That question will take Danny on a journey from California to Japan as he tries to piece together the last months of his mother's life and make a decision about who he is and what he wants.

My heart broke for Danny. The last six years of his life were a lesson in how to deal with tragedy. Remarkably, he was able to excel at school, do what teenage boys do while still being there for his incredibly sick mother. But when she dies, he falls apart. He questions everything and figured the only way he could get away from all the sadness surrounding him was to go to Japan and figure out what to do with his mother's apartment there. For me, Japan was the key for allowing Danny to move forward. Not only did he get answers about what was happening with his mother, he found the key to what was happening with himself and his girlfriend, Holland.

There was one character who I absolutely loved. Kana is the daughter of the woman who takes care of Danny's mother's apartment in Japan. She's this mixture of old and new world Japanese culture and a breathe of fresh air in Danny's world. She becomes his best friend and the voice of reason he needs to get past every little detail he gets stuck on. She's able to share information about his mother (since she was her friend too) and give him insight that changes the way the sees his family. She's an absolute delight and a character I longed to read about in the story.

WHEN YOU WERE HERE is a heartbreaking story that transitions over to a coming of age one. While I my first thought is still the question I have above, the author was able to create a story that while depressing at times had me unwilling to put the book down until I knew Danny was going to be ok.

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  • Started reading
  • 31 May, 2013: Finished reading
  • 31 May, 2013: Reviewed