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AfterMath
By Joly Herman,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
School shooting haunts intense story of girl's grief.
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What's the Story?
In AFTERMATH, 12-year-old Lucy has moved to a suburb of Washington, D.C.. She's entering the seventh grade after losing her younger brother to congenital heart disease; she copes with this by seeing life in terms of math problems. But she's now living in a town that has suffered a tremendous tragedy -- four years ago, a mass shooting took the lives of 32 thrid-greaders at Lucy's new school. On her first day, she's is amazed at how quickly kids tell her where they were the day the shooter came. It's still a very real part of their lives, and Lucy stuggles to make sense of it all. Can Lucy get through her own tragedy and connect with her family? Can she make friends in a school where everyone seems too shocked to care? Is there such a thing as starting over when you're dealing with grief?
Is It Any Good?
Though there are some glimmers of hope that shine through the tragedy, this story may be too intense for most young readers. It's an everyday reality, after all, that kids these days have to undergo active shooter drills at school. The attempt to tackle this subject, as debut author Emily Barth Isler does in AfterMath, is certainly well-intentioned. But it lacks nuance.
There are tender moments as Lucy's parents realize their grief has overshadowed their ability to connect with their surviving kid. Some of the dialogue is pitch-perfect. But the enormity of the grief, the intensity of the pain is an awful lot to confront in a book about a girl adjusting to new school. The personal tragedy of losing a brother might have been sufficient for this story. The mass shooting theme is simply too burdensome for this narrative to handle.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about violence in schools and how kids cope in AfterMath. A lot of kids go to therapy in Lucy's school in order to manage their grief and PTSD after the school massacre. How do you know when it's time to take care of your mental health?
At Lucy's school, she looks around the cafeteria at lunchtime and most of the kids are on their cellphones. What are the rules about cellphones at your school?
Lucy's parents have severely restricted her access to computer searches and social media to preserve her innocence when she's going through a tragedy. Do you think limiting screen time when a kid is going through a hard time is the correct approach?
Book Details
- Author: Emily Barth Isler
- Genre: Coming of Age
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Carolrhoda Books
- Publication date: September 7, 2021
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 10 - 12
- Number of pages: 272
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Kindle
- Last updated: August 31, 2021
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