Letting Go of Gravity
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
“[An] absorbing novel that will appeal to fans of Rainbow Rowell.” —Booklist
“A poignant and carefully crafted story.” —School Library Journal
“A gorgeous, sad, funny, and wise book about letting go and finding your place in the world.” —Kathleen Glasgow, New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces
Parker struggles to reconnect with her twin brother, Charlie—who’s recovering from cancer—as she tries to deal with her anxiety about the future in this powerful new novel.
Twins Parker and Charlie are polar opposites.
Where Charlie is fearless, Parker is careful.
Charlie is confident while Parker aims to please.
Charlie is outgoing and outspoken; Parker is introverted and reserved.
And of course, there’s the one other major difference: Charlie got cancer. Parker didn’t.
But now that Charlie is officially in remission, life couldn’t be going better for Parker. She’s landed a prestigious summer internship at the hospital and is headed to Harvard in the fall to study pediatric oncology—which is why the anxiety she’s felt since her Harvard acceptance is so unsettling. And it doesn’t help that her relationship with Charlie has been on the rocks since his diagnosis.
Enter Finn, a boy who’s been leaving strange graffiti messages all over town. Parker can’t stop thinking about those messages, or about Finn, who makes her feel free for the first time: free to doubt, free to make mistakes, and free to confront the truth that Parker has been hiding from for a long time.
That she keeps trying to save Charlie, when the person who really needs saving is herself.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When the McCullough twins were in fourth grade, Charlie got leukemia, and his sister, Parker, decided that the best way to keep everyone happy was to announce that she would become a doctor. Now, at 18, Charlie is recovering from a relapse, and while Parker has been accepted by Harvard and lined up a great summer internship, she also starts having panic attacks and wondering if all the work she's put in has been worth it. Amid the tension, the once-closer-than-close siblings can barely tolerate each other. Over the summer, Parker gradually finds out what she actually likes to do when she isn't fixated on getting a perfect GPA; she makes a new friend and reconnects with Finn, her recently returned childhood best friend. The complications and dangers surrounding Finn's life form a strong part of the book, which can otherwise feel a bit slow. But Leder (The Museum of Heartbreak) effectively shows how illness affects families and how a person can get stuck acting out a persona and end up knowing very little about herself. Ages 12 up.
