Love, Aubrey
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4.6 • 196 Ratings
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
"I had everything I needed to run a household: a house, food, and a new family. From now on it would just be me and Sammy–the two of us, and no one else."
A tragic accident has turned eleven-year-old Aubrey’s world upside down. Starting a new life all alone, Aubrey has everything she thinks she needs: SpaghettiOs and Sammy, her new pet fish. She cannot talk about what happened to her. Writing letters is the only thing that feels right to Aubrey, even if no one ever reads them.
With the aid of her loving grandmother and new friends, Aubrey learns that she is not alone, and gradually, she finds the words to express feelings that once seemed impossible to describe. The healing powers of friendship, love, and memory help Aubrey take her first steps toward the future.
Readers will care for Aubrey from page one and will watch her grow until the very end, when she has to make one of the biggest decisions of her life.
Love, Aubrey is devastating, brave, honest, funny, and hopeful, and it introduces a remarkable new writer, Suzanne LaFleur. No matter how old you are, this book is not to be missed.
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.
Customer Reviews
Life Changing
This book... I don't even know where to start.
The beginning will pull you in like the sucker you know you are for a good sentimental story.
The middle tosses you around like a ragdoll with emotions varying widely between mere page turns.
The end will leave you speechless & breathless in shock as you wonder why it had to end and what happens next.
Aubrey is the best kind of protagonist: the one that not only becomes a friend, but also feels like a little sister (minus the annoying part). She is sweet and naive and you just want to hug her and tell her it'll all be okay.
It is one of those books that everyone will love and walk away from enlightened. And don't let the girl on the cover deceive you; this isn't just a girl book. It's a book and a very good one at that.
Thank you Suzanne for sharing Aubrey with us.
And Aubrey: we love you too.
:)
Emotionally captivating
I read this book when I was younger and struggling with my family life and mental health. Now more than 10 years later, I have been working toward healing past trauma, and rereading this book has helped me so much and connect to my child self. It is such a beautiful story with complex characters and real-life situations. I will always return back to it and recommended it to children and people who deal with these issues of abandonment, grief, etc.
Beautiful!❤️
Love it so much👍👍