Love, Aubrey
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Something terrible has happened. Eleven-year-old Aubrey is on her own.
'It was fun at first, playing house. Nothing to think about but T.V and cheese. A perfect world.'
She's determined to hide away and take care of herself, because facing the truth is too much to bear.
'I couldn't let anyone know that I was alone. I was staying right here.'
But with the love of her grandmother and the letters she writes, can Aubrey begin to see that even though she's lost everything - all is not lost?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
LaFleur's moving debut offers a convincing first-person narration of a girl coping in the wake of tragedy. When 11-year-old Aubrey's mother drives away one morning, leaving her alone in their house, Aubrey resolutely takes care of herself for a week, buying canned food (and a pet fish) with birthday money and watching TV. After Aubrey's concerned grandmother arrives (Aubrey hasn't been answering the phone) and takes her home with her to Vermont, the devastating circumstances behind her mother's departure become clear: Aubrey's family has recently been in a car accident, in which both her father and little sister were killed. Aubrey grapples with her abandonment by displaying psychosomatic symptoms she gets frequent bouts of nausea and through symbolic gestures (she periodically composes letters to her sister's imaginary friend, which are interspersed throughout). With the support of a neighbor her age, her grandmother and a school counselor who encourages her to write letters to her family, Aubrey begins to accept her loss and to understand her mother's complex motivations for leaving. The relationships at the center of Aubrey's struggle with her mother, grandmother and with herself are fleshed out with honesty and sensitivity. Ages 9 14.
