Parents' Guide to Six Goodbyes We Never Said

As SIX GOODBYES WE NEVER SAID begins, 17-year-old Naima Rodriquez is traveling with her stepmother from Georgia to a small town in Indiana. Her father has been killed during his sixth deployment to an unnamed country, and Naima is going to live with his parents. Naima has OCD, anxiety, and PTSD, and recently attempted suicide. She has tics, keeps a Ziploc bag of marshmallows from Lucky Charms cereal under her bed, and is fixated on the number six. To get through her father's last deployment, she ignored his phone calls, deleted his voicemails, and returned all his letters. Thankfully, her grandparents are loving, endlessly patient, and accepting. Fifteen-year-old Drew Diaz Brickman lives next door to Naima's grandparents and is also grieving a loss. Both his parents were killed in an accident, and he's been adopted by a couple who, like Naima's grandparents, are endlessly patient and accepting. Although Drew suffers from social anxiety, he's recently taken a job at a local bakery and coffee shop and is making sometimes disastrous attempts to interact with customers. Even before actually meeting Naima, Drew's decided that she'll be his true love. But when he makes awkward attempts at starting a friendship, Naima isn't having it. Still consumed by grief, she's certain she'll live with it all her life. But Drew persists, and their growing friendship (although not a romance) begins a healing journey for both.