Amelia Peabody lives in a small town where nothing changes. And that's just fine by her. After losing her big sister, Clara, a few years ago, Amelia can't handle any more change. But when she starts eighth grade, she accidentally receives a letter that Clara had written to herself. In it, there's a list of things she'd wanted to do before the end of middle school and never finished, like get on the softball team and throw an awesome birthday party on the lake.
Amelia wonders if it's a sign from Clara. Maybe if she completed the list, her heart would stop hurting so much, and she could go back to being her old self. But as she makes her way through, Amelia finds that there's no going back, only forward. And she realizes she'll have to put her own spin on Clara's list to grow and change in the ways she needs to.
K. A. Holt's beautiful new novel is about grieving and growing up, and the ripples loss creates for a girl, a family, and a community.
Amelia has been carrying around her sister-shaped hole for three years, and on the first day of 8th grade, she received a letter from her 6th grade sister filled with all her 8th grade goals. Amelia decided to complete this list for her sister, and in the process, was able to ease some of her pain and grief.
Grief and loss books are like my niche, and this one was really sweet, touching, and lovely. Holt touches upon many of those feelings many people, who have lost a loved one suddenly tend to struggle with. Amelia also struggled with being viewed as the girl-with-the-dead-sister. She knew she would always carry some pain inside her, but she wanted people to talk to her and treat her normally.
The list was a great starter for Ameila's healing process, but it was the support of her friends and family that really helped her process all her emotions. I cried a bunch, and there were some really beautiful moments towards the end that really stood out for me.
