The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley
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- USD 10.99
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- USD 10.99
Publisher Description
A heartbreaking yet uplifting story about a boy who has lost everything but finds new hope drawing in the shadows of a hospital. Features a thirty-two-page graphic novel.
Andrew Brawley was supposed to die that night, just like the rest of his family.
Now he lives in the hospital, serving food in the cafeteria, hanging out with the nurses, sleeping in a forgotten supply closet. Drew blends in to near invisibility, hiding from his past, his guilt, and those who are trying to find him. His only solace is in the world of the superhero he’s created—Patient F.
Then, one night, Rusty is wheeled into the ER, half his body burned by hateful classmates. Rusty’s agony is like a beacon for Drew, pulling them together through all their pain and grief. In Rusty, Drew sees hope, happiness, and a future for both of them. A future outside of the hospital, and away from their painful pasts.
But to save Rusty, Drew will have to confront death, and life might get worse before it gets better. And by telling the truth about who he really is, Drew risks any chance of a future…for both of them.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this haunting tale of grief and recovery, 17-year-old Andrew Brawley lives like a ghost in the sprawling wings of Roanoke General Hospital, working in the cafeteria, visiting patients, and borrowing what he needs to get by. When he's not trying to play matchmaker for his friends Lexi and Trevor both battling cancer he's talking to nurses or working on his comic, Patient F, all while avoiding the tragic circumstances that took his family and left him behind. When Rusty, a boy badly burned by homophobic bullies, enters the hospital, Drew finds the courage to reach out, find love, and confront his deep-rooted guilt and confusion. Hutchinson (fml) takes some liberties with Drew's unusual day-to-day circumstances, but spins an engrossing story, with Drew's perceptions lending it an almost surreal, supernatural quality (such as his seeing Death around the hospital and fearing that she's come for him). The narrative is further developed by violent excerpts from Patient F, skillfully drawn by Larsen, through which Drew tries to exorcise his demons. Ages 14 up.
