The Weight of a Thousand Feathers - Hardcover

Conaghan, Brian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1681194821 ISBN 13: 9781681194820

Publisher: Bloomsbury YA, 2019

Synopsis

From the acclaimed author of When Mr. Dog Bites and The Bombs That Brought Us Together comes a compelling, thought-provoking, heartbreaking, and timely story that asks: how far would you go for family?

As the person who cares for his terminally-ill mother, Bobby Seed has a lot on his plate. Add to that a responsibility to watch over his little brother (with his endless question about why their mother is in so much pain), keeping up at school, and navigating a relationship with a girl friend who wants to be a girlfriend, and he's barely keeping his head above the water. Something's got to give.

But then Bobby's mother makes a request, one that seems impossible. If he agrees, he won't just be soothing her pain. He'll be helping her end it -- and end everything. Angry, stirring, and tender, this bold novel tells a story of choice and compassion, exploring the lengths to which we'll go for the people we love.

About this title

About the Author

Brian Conaghan lives and works in the Scottish town of Coatbridge. He has a Master of Letters in Creative Writing from the University of Glasgow, and worked as a teacher for many years. His novel When Mr Dog Bites was shortlisted for the 2015 CILIP Carnegie Medal. The Bombs That Brought Us Together won the 2016 Costa Children's Book Award, The Weight of a Thousand Feathers won the 2018 Irish Book Award for Teen/YA Book of the Year, and We Come Apart, a verse novel co-authored with Carnegie Medal-winner Sarah Crossan, won the 2018 UKLA Book Award. Cardboard Cowboys, Brian's first middle-grade novel, published in 2021 and is full of his trademark heart, humour and crackling dialogue. Swimming on the Moon is his second middle-grade novel.
@ConaghanAuthor

Reviews

Gr 9 Up{amp}mdash;This first-person work of realistic fiction features Bobby Seed, a teen who has been foisted into the role of "carer," a term American readers might find unfamiliar but will soon understand as they read about Bobby's wisecracking and loving mother becoming less able to take care of herself and her family because of her multiple sclerosis (MS). Not only must Bobby manage school and dinner, but he must also attend to laundry and all his mum's personal needs. Add to that coping with a younger brother with some cognitive and behavioral challenges of his own, and the teen badly needs a solid friend like Bel whose romantic feelings Bobby does not return. He also begins to attend a support group for other teen carers, where he meets Lou, a guy with a Vespa and an American flavor of cool, whom Bobby does find attractive. The book's second half sees Bobby rooming with Lou at a weekend group outing, trying to provide his mum with pot at her nostalgic request to relive her youth while she still can, and hoping to manage even more unthinkable requests as she faces the total loss of body control. While the story is important, the writing style and poor pacing fail to pull teens into Bobby's narrative. VERDICT An additional purchase.{amp}mdash;Suzanne Gordon, Lanier High School, Sugar Hill, GA

Edition details

• Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1681194821
• ISBN 13: 9781681194820
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 368