The Death and Life of Benny Brooks
Sort of a Memoir
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A BCCB Blue Ribbon Best Book of the Year
★ "Captivating…. Long's heartening memoir portrays a boy facing challenging situations with hard-won hope and increasing maturity." —Booklist, starred review
★ "A tender, vulnerable portrayal of one kid’s attempt to shore up his strengths to piece together the shards of a deeply shattered heart.... Readers will appreciate Long’s honest exploration of a troubled family that is bound both by love and tragedy." —The Bulletin, starred review
An award-winning children’s book creator grapples with the darker undercurrents of his childhood in this poignant and honest illustrated memoir, for readers of Free Lunch and The List of Things That Will Not Change.
Benny's life is slowly unraveling. His parents are newly divorced, his mom chooses to move away, and Benny and his brother and sister are left with their chain-smoking dad, who has just been diagnosed with lung cancer. Benny is lonely, anxious, and very angry. He can't sleep at night and spends his days trying to survive fifth grade.
Writing from a personal place, award-winning creator Ethan Long sheds light on the challenges of growing up amidst family turmoil in this thought-provoking, bighearted story that brims with hope.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Long (the Junior Monster Scouts series) pulls from events in his childhood to deliver an ardent illustrated novel. A month after 10-year-old Benny's parents' divorce, Benny and his siblings have been living with their chain-smoking father, who recently learned that he has a lump on his lung. Both parents struggle to manage childcare on top of their own difficulties; Mom's new home lacks sufficient sleeping space for all three siblings, and Dad's cancer diagnosis impacts his ability to be present for his children. The family's interpersonal tensions result in emotional tumult for Benny, who starts lashing out in moments of intense anger. His parents sign him up for therapy, and as Benny begins being opening about his worries, he comes to terms with the new realities of his life. Dynamic, youthful-feeling pencil drawings by the protagonist—the sun is depicted as a quintessential semicircle on the edge of the page, and tree canopies are rendered using cloud-like shapes—permeate this slice-of-life narrative, allowing readers glimpses into how Benny views his circumstances. The characters' challenges are realistically handled, and painful moments are balanced with levying humor. Character skin tones reflect the white of the page. Ages 9–14.
