Lolo's Light

For readers who love The Thing About Jellyfish and Counting By 7s, Lolos Light is a deeply honest middle grade novel about grief, redemption, and life as a kid facing both.This is a truth about growing up: Once in your life, sometime after your first memory but before you can drive a car, something is going to happen to you that doesnt happen to anyone else you know. It might be something good. It might be something bad, or special, or funny, or shocking. For Millie, its something really sad. Lolo, her neighbors infant daughter, dies unexpectedly, suddenly, inexplicably, on the night Millie babysits.Its not Millies fault. Theres nothing she could have done. And theres nothing she can do now.So how does she go on?She does what youll do. She finds her way.This poignant and profound coming-of-age story portrays a tragic experience of responsibility and its poisonous flip side: guilt. Emotional and important, this is an honest and empathetic portrait of a girl at her most vulnerablea mess of grief, love, and ultimately, acceptancewho must reckon with those most difficult of demons: death . . . and life.A GREAT WAY TO UNDERSTAND DIFFICULT FEELINGS: Coming to terms with ones responsibility for things both our fault and not is a universal experience that can be difficult to process, particularly when grief is involved. Millie offers a great blueprint for young readers who dont understand the surrounding emotions and need help working through them.A MAIN CHARACTER KIDS WILL LOVE: Millie makes mistakes as she navigates grief. Its often not pretty, but it is very relatable. The authors honest portrayal of this experience will resonate with young readers, whether grieving or not. Perfect for:Middle grade readersEducators and librariansParents looking for books on loss or grief