griEVE by Lizzie Wilcock
Every now and then it seems that YA book publishers publish a string of titles on the same theme. A few year’s ago it was teenage pregnancy, or school bullies, or World War 1. About the middle of last year it seems the ‘in’ theme was dealing with grief.
Eve is a normal happy girl, the only daughter of two loving parents. The her mother stops enjoying life, staying in her room, content with TV. And then one day when Eve returns from school, there is no Mum, just a note on lavender stationery, simply saying EVE. Mum is gone, Dad won’t talk about it, and Eve is left to mourn and puzzle out what happened. She is also left to become the homemaker, because Dad starts working longer hours and often away from home. Suddenly an ordered life has become chaos, and a young girl who should have nothing to worry about but her social life, has more responsibilities than many adults.
This is a warm and wonderful story about love, loss, pain and hope, but most of all hope. Thank you Lizzie.
