Say Goodnight, Gracie (Limelight Books) - Hardcover

Julie Reece Deaver

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0333476085 ISBN 13: 9780333476086

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books, 1988

Synopsis

There are friends we can't imagine living without.

Morgan and Jimmy were kids together, whirling around the porch on hot summer days. They've been friends forever, and by now they know each other inside out. They do everything together--from cutting high school to go into the city to coaching each other at dance auditions and acting workshops. They even argue well. A perfect friendship. Best friends. For life.

So how could life be so right and then be so wrong? After a terrible accident, Morgan suddenly has to face life alone. Without Jimmy around, though, it's like the best part of her has died. How could he do this to her? And why is love so hard?

‘Morgan and Jimmy have grown up together, and are close, loving friends. When Jimmy is killed in an automobile accident, Morgan falls apart and slowly begins a desperate spiral into depression. A wrenching first novel that combines a teenager’s emotional trauma with a love story in the best modern tradition.’ —BL. ‘Memorable.’ —SLJ.

1988 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)
1989 Recommended Books for Reluctant Young Adult Readers (ALA)
1988 Young Adult Editors' Choices (BL)
Young Adult Choices for 1990 (IRA)
Children's Books of 1988 (Library of Congress)
1988 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)

About this title

About the Author:

Julie Reece Deaver has worked both as a teacher's aide and in television and has had her pen-and-ink drawings appear in such periodicals as The New Yorker and Reader's Digest. She is the author of Say Goodnight, Gracie, a 1988 Best Book for Young Adults (ALA) and a 1988 Recommended book for Reluctant Young Adult readers (ALA); First Wedding, Once Removed; and You Bet Your Life. Ms. Deaver lives in Pacific Grove, California.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 8-10A well-drawn portrayal of the complex emotions of an adolescent's first confrontation with death. Morgan and Jimmy have been inseparable friends since birth. When Jimmy is killed by a drunk driver, Morgan's pain seems un bearable. The novel candidly charts the range of Morgan's grief and her slow growth towards acceptance and maturity. Poignantly, the novel opens with a men tion of Jimmy's death, then jumps to be fore the accident as Morgan narrates the events leading up to and following it. Deaver has an acute ear for dialogue; the novel progresses with snappy, realistic exchanges between Morgan and Jimmy. The friendship that they share is just thata close friendship that, refreshingly, is without romantic involvement. The role models presented are a real plus, too. Jim my aspires to be a ballet dancer, and Mor gan's aunt is an attractive psychiatrist. Jimmy's fondness for Fred Astaire is a nice touch, as is the Burns and Allen refer ence in the titlea reference which young readers unfortunately may not under stand. Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia (Crowell, 1977) superbly handles the acci dental death of a friend for younger read ers. Goodnight, Gracie is more sensitive, engaging and realistic than Brancato's Facing Up (Knopf, 1984). It is a memora ble first novel. Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School Library, South Portland, Maine
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
• Publication date: 1988
• ISBN 10: 0333476085
• ISBN 13: 9780333476086
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224