Dear Edward: A Read with Jenna Pick
A Novel
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4.2 • 109 Ratings
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- $1.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY • “Make sure you have tissues handy when you read [this] sure-footed tearjerker” (NPR) about a young boy who must learn to go on after surviving tragedy, from the author of the Oprah’s Book Club pick Hello Beautiful.
Now streaming as an Apple TV+ series starring Connie Britton, written and executive produced by Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights and Parenthood)
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, Parade, LibraryReads
What does it mean not just to survive, but to truly live?
One summer morning, twelve-year-old Edward Adler, his beloved older brother, his parents, and 183 other passengers board a flight in Newark headed for Los Angeles. Among them are a Wall Street wunderkind, a young woman coming to terms with an unexpected pregnancy, an injured veteran returning from Afghanistan, a business tycoon, and a free-spirited woman running away from her controlling husband. Halfway across the country, the plane crashes. Edward is the sole survivor.
Edward’s story captures the attention of the nation, but he struggles to find a place in a world without his family. He continues to feel that a part of himself has been left in the sky, forever tied to the plane and all of his fellow passengers. But then he makes an unexpected discovery—one that will lead him to the answers of some of life’s most profound questions: When you’ve lost everything, how do you find the strength to put one foot in front of the other? How do you learn to feel safe again? How do you find meaning in your life?
Dear Edward is at once a transcendent coming-of-age story, a multidimensional portrait of an unforgettable cast of characters, and a breathtaking illustration of all the ways a broken heart learns to love again.
Praise for Dear Edward
“Dear Edward is that rare book that breaks your heart and stitches it back together during a reading experience that leaves you profoundly altered for the better.”—Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of Mad Honey
“Will lead you toward something wonderous, something profound.”—Kevin Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Now Is Not the Time to Panic
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Tragedy casts a long shadow on a boy’s life in Ann Napolitano’s emotionally powerful novel. Twelve-year-old Edward Adler is moving across country to California with his family when their plane crashes, leaving him the only survivor. As he struggles to start a new life with his aunt and uncle, Edward wrestles with grief, guilt, unwanted notoriety, and the public’s expectations of how the “Miracle Boy” should live. Napolitano’s characters feel realistic and her insightful writing brings warmth, compassion, and wit to even the darkest moments of Edward’s life. Although it begins with unfathomable tragedy, Dear Edward is a hopeful tale about resilience and friendship.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Napolitano (A Good Hard Look) builds a gentle but persistent tension as she navigates the minds of passengers on a plane that is about to crash, and the thoughts of the boy who is the only survivor. Wonderfully detailed characters include Edward Adler, 12 years old at the time of the crash, who lives through the catastrophe, and Shay, who's the same age and lives next to the aunt and uncle who take over for Edward's dead parents. The story moves back and forth before and after the crash, when Edward struggles to physically and emotionally recover. Stories of his fellow passengers are woven throughout: Florida is a Filipina who remembers her past lives; Benjamin is a soldier who has just discovered he's gay; and Veronica is an alluring flight attendant who tallies admiring stares. During Edward's recovery between 2013 and 2019, he remembers some of these people, but in 2016, after finding hundreds of letters addressed to him from the families of the victims, Edward begins to discover his purpose. The potent prose brings readers close to the complex emotional and psychological fallout after tragedy. Edward's intolerable losses and his eventual brave recovery is at first melancholy, but by the end, readers will feel a comforting sense of solace. Napolitano's depiction of the nuances of post-trauma experiences is fearless, compassionate, and insightful.
Customer Reviews
Ann Napolitano’s Dear Edward
Napolitano’s idea to follow up on a boy who survives a plane crash was unimaginable. She thoughtfully unravels Edward’s grief and post traumatic reaction. thoughtfully.