Definitely, I’d put this book in the children’s section of the bookstore/library. I imagine that this book would have been more of a hit with me if I was a bit younger than I am now. Both the characters and writing are fairly juvenile and simplistic. It definitely reads at a level below the majority of YA that’s getting published lately. Otherwise, I really only thought this book was so-so. (I was unsure about how the rebirth scenario accounted for population increase, but whatevs.) It sounds simple, I guess, but I think Elsewhere did a great job with world-building and making things understandable. During that time, people have an “avocation”, which is basically doing what they love as a kind of job. In this place (called Elsewhere), people age backwards until they become babies again and are sent back to Earth. Honestly, the best thing this book has going for it is the uniqueness of Zevin’s portrayal of the afterlife. At the same time, I will say that Elsewhere exceeded my expectations, and I found myself enjoying it. I’m one of the very few readers who found If I Stay to be underwhelming, and just, in general, the topic doesn’t do much for me. How can Liz let go of the only life she has ever known and embrace a new one? Is it possible that a life lived in reverse is no different from a life lived forward? This moving, often funny book about grief, death, and loss will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned.Įlsewhere is a 2006 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.Īs a reader, I don’t personally find books that deal with “out of body experiences” to be particularly my speed. And now that she’s dead, Liz is being forced to live a life she doesn’t want with a grandmother she has only just met. She wants to graduate from high school and go to college. But Liz wants to turn sixteen, not fourteen again.
Here Liz will age backward from the day of her death until she becomes a baby again and returns to Earth. It is a place so like Earth, yet completely different. Elsewhere is where fifteen-year-old Liz Hall ends up, after she has died. Need to talk to someone about your problems? Stop by Marilyn Monroe’s psychiatric practice. Curious to see new paintings by Picasso? Swing by one of Elsewhere’s museums.
It is warm, with a breeze, and the beaches are marvelous. Is it possible to grow up while getting younger?
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