But Then I Came Back by Estelle Laure - ESSENTIAL

Laure, Estelle  But Then I Came Back, 310 pgs.  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017.  $17.99  Content: Language: R (54 swears; 6 “F”); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: G.  

Eden fell into a river and almost died.  She spends a month in a coma and when she wakes up she has a hard time getting a grasp on reality because the things she saw while asleep seem so real.  When she meets a boy named Joe, who is visiting his best friend, Jaz, in the hospital room next door Eden starts to think that maybe the things she saw while in her coma were real.  

This is a creative and poetic book.  I loved the writing style and the author made me love the character.  The theme of life after death or the “in between” was philosophical and well done.   The mature content is make out sessions and except for the language this would be essential for middle school as well.  

MS – OPTIONAL.  HS – ESSENTIAL.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.