Carys Bray's A Song for Issy Bradley
Fair warning to mom friends: don't read this one, just don't. It's about what happens when a little girl dies of meningitis (which HAPPENS, it happened to the little daughter of a friend of a friend of mine and was devastating . . . like this book), and how her family deals with grief and their Mormon faith (Mormons should probably also skip this one) (The author is a former Mormon and and NAILS the details). The story manages to be completely heartbreaking while not feeling at all manipulative--a rare thing. But the end felt redemptive somehow. And obviously I enjoyed all the discussions of faith/Mormonism, especially from the two teenage children (a devout girl tempted by a cute boy, and her brother, interested only in football [soccer, this is set in England somewhere]). Seven-year-old Jacob's POV didn't always work for me--writing from the perspective of a small child is a hard thing to do well--but the other four characters were vividly drawn. Really strong overall. A/A-.
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