Common Sense Media Review
By Mary Eisenhart
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Wild road trip drives emotional story of lies, loss, love.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 9+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
CJ Ames' mom died right after CJ was born. CJ's Aunt Nic has cared for her lovingly ever since -- and CJ still gets to talk to her mom all the time because Aunt Nic is a medium. But on CJ's 12th birthday, Aunt Nic tells her that her mom's going to a spirit world FAR AWAY -- meaning no more conversations. Determined to find the one physical object from her mom's life that will keep her tied to our world, CJ is soon trying to make sense of assorted signs and portents, which often seem to be leading her (and assorted people along the way) to crazy schemes, as well as places and discoveries better avoided.
Is It Any Good?
A 12-year-old's life on the tour circuit with her aunt who speaks to the dead is just the jumping-off place for Lisa Graff's imaginative, often funny tale of love, loss, forgiveness, and family. Far Away weaves a tangled web of emotions and things that may or may not be true, where characters do a lot of wrong things for what seem to be the right reasons (and vice versa), and there are surprising plot developments along the way. Then there's bright, strong-willed narrator andmain character CJ herself:
"'I'm teaching you to drive stick,' I say.
"'How do you know how to drive stick?' Jax's knuckles are gripped tight around the steering wheel. 'You're, like, ten.'
"'I'm twelve,' I reply. 'Today's my birthday. And your uncle taught me stick, same as he taught you.' I pause. 'Well, way better than he taught you, obviously. You're not giving it enough clutch. You gotta press all the way to the floor.'"
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about talking with the dead -- and stories about people who do it, or say they do. Why do you think this is a popular theme? How does this theme come up in other stories you know? How does Far Away compare?
Does Far Away give you any insight into what goes on behind the scenes of the shows you see on TV, especially the different kinds of work involved? Do you think you might like to work in television?
Do you know anyone who suddenly learned that something they'd always believed about themselves or their family wasn't really true? What happened? How did they deal with it?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Family Life
- Topics : Friendship
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Philomel
- Publication date : March 5, 2019
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 8 - 12
- Number of pages : 272
- Available on : Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate