Our Little World
A Novel
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4.2 • 44 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
"I was intrigued by Our Little World from the chilling first paragraph. It's a coming-of-age novel complicated by a tragic and untimely death, and it's also a novel about two sisters you will never forget. I fell in love with the confidence of the writing and the colorful nostalgia of the mid-'80s details. Our Little World will transport and transfix you."—Elin Hilderbrand
July 1985. It’s a normal, sweltering New Jersey summer for soon-to-be seventh grader Bee Kocsis. Her thoughts center only on sunny days spent at Deer Chase Lake, on evenings chasing fireflies around her cul-de-sac with the neighborhood kids, and on Max, the boy who just moved in across the street. There's also the burgeoning worry that she'll never be as special as her younger sister, Audrina, who seems to effortlessly dazzle wherever she goes.
But when Max’s little sister, Sally, goes missing at the lake, Bee’s long-held illusion of stability is shattered in an instant. As the families in her close-knit community turn inward, suspicious and protective, things in Bee’s own home become increasingly strained, most of all with Audrina, when a shameful secret surfaces. With everything changed, Bee and Audrina’s already-fraught sisterhood is pushed to the limit as they grow up—and apart—in the wake of an innocence lost too soon.
Perfect for readers of Celeste Ng’s Everything I Never Told You, Our Little World is a powerful and lyrical coming-of-age story that examines the complicated bond of sisterhood, the corrosive power of envy, and how the traumas of our youths can shape our identities for a lifetime.
Customer Reviews
A Page Turner
A story of sisterhood, tragedy, family dynamics, and resilience! Set in the mid 1980’s, Borka who went by Bee was misunderstood and considered to be a tomboy by her family, while her sister, Audrina was the favored, beautiful and popular sister. When a new family moved into their neighborhood, Bee and Audrina become fast friends with Sally and her brother, Max. All is good until Sally disappears at one of their lake play dates. How long will it take to find her? How will the community respond and what secrets will be revealed? A page turner that is hard to put down. Great book club pick as it will lead to many great discussions!
A mystery that reads like a memoir
To quote Elin Hilderbrand, “‘Our Little World’ will transport & transfix you.” Part mystery, part memoir-like, this work of fiction follows the folks living in a fictional New Jersey town.
Sisters Audrina & Bee navigate their complicated relationship as they grow up on a cul-de-sac in a tight-knit neighborhood. One summer, their new neighbors’ young daughter Sally goes missing, rocking the town & its residents. As they await word on the whereabouts of the toddler, Audrina is diagnosed as a diabetic and struggles to cope with the disease. Meanwhile Bee is caught between caring for her sister & trying to break free into the world of junior high. One day before winter break, Audrina doesn’t return home & she’s eventually found dead in the town’s library, the result of an apparent hypoglycemic episode. Bee’s life has now been rocked twice and she is forced to live with the guilt her actions played in both Sally’s and Audrina’s deaths.
As the fallout from Audrina’s passing takes center stage in the book, the reader is left wondering if there will be closure in Sally’s disappearance. Winn once again shocks us in the epilogue with the news that the small town’s well-liked cop was actually responsible for the toddler’s death. DNA evidence helped police find the killer more than 30 years later, which was a very well-done & timely conclusion to the entire book. Easy to give this one five stars!