Friday, September 11, 2020

Taylor Before and After by Jennie Englund - ESSENTIAL

Taylor Before and After by Jennie Englund, 311 pages. Macmillan, 2020. $17             


Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG (Drug and alcohol use and bad car accident where kids are killed); Violence: G.


BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - ESSENTIAL


AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH


8th grader Taylor and her family re-located from Oregon to Oahu. Two years ago. Taylor loves her school, and is always trying to get into the "cool" girls and does not really appreciate her good friends as much as she maybe should. At New Year’s there is always a big party and Taylor has never been invited. She wants to be invited so bad this year. Taylor loves to go with her brother Eli and his friends and watch them surf at Sunset Beach. They want to surf the infamous and dangerous "Pipeline". When tragedy strikes, it hits them all hard. Her mother is debilitated by her depression after the accident and has to be admitted for treatment. Her dad is angry and spends his time working and working and yelling when he is home. Is Taylor strong enough to work through all the hardships and her own depression? She will find out who her real friends are in all of this.


Taylor is a deep thinking, deep feeling girl. As the year goes on, I could see how she was changing and maturing through her writing. I highly recommend this book.


Ellen-Anita, LMS                                                                   


1 comment:

Jennie Englund said...

Thank you very very much for this lovely, essential review! I love when reviews like yours encourage tough content to kids who really need it. Love, Jennie Englund