The final chapters filled me with hope and happiness. This book is great therapy for anyone going through a sad, difficult time, or helping someone else to do the same.

Nothing was easily earned in this book - Trent had to work for every baby step of courage and progress.

One of my favorite story lines was Trent's relationship with his homeroom teacher, 'a wrinkled old crone' - and how she stays with him and slowly helps him. I listened hungrily to see how people would reach out to him, and he to them. But there was so much humor and heart in Trent, his friends, his teachers, and his family. His new friend Fallon breaks the middle school mold - not an easy person to be, or to be friends with. His father is distant and curt and offers no comfort. Trent has unbearable tragedy in his background, and he's only a 6th grader, trying to survive middle school and life. On the surface, it felt like it would be a very difficult read. He brought Trent to life perfectly!ĭid you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry? This was my first time listening to Ramón de Ocampo’s narration. Have you listened to any of Ramón de Ocampo’s other performances before? How does this one compare? Lisa Graff's books have been named to 30 state award lists, and A Tangle of Knots was long-listed for the National Book Award. Even in baseball, when a fly ball gets lost in the sun, you have to remember to shift your position to find it. It isn't until Trent gets caught up in the whirlwind that is Fallon Little - the girl with the mysterious scar across her face - that things begin to change. If only Trent could make that fresh start happen. Trent's pretty positive the entire disaster was his fault, so for him middle school feels like a fresh start, a chance to prove to everyone that he's not the horrible screw-up they seem to think he is. From the author of A Tangle of Knots and Absolutely Almost, a touching story about a boy who won't let one tragic accident define him.Įveryone says that middle school is awful, but Trent knows nothing could be worse than the year he had in fifth grade, when a freak accident on Cedar Lake left one kid dead, and Trent with a brain full of terrible thoughts he can't get rid of.

Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff