DECEMBER 2022 - AudioFile
This young adult title offers a plot revealed in reverse: The audiobook begins a year to the day after Nina's death; her little sister Leo's grief moves backward toward the fateful night of the accident, bringing listeners along to discover the painful details. Sarah Goer's performance is clear and quiet, punctuated by moments of enthusiasm. For the most part, the audiobook is fine, albeit slow-paced. Goer's voice shifts among characters, and sometimes the vocal distinctions sound forced. Leo struggles to remember anything from the accident, a problem that is a central focus of the story: What actually happened? And how does one manage grief and move toward an emotional place that is more habitable? Fans of Benway will enjoy this sensitive exploration. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
05/02/2022
Told in reverse chronology, Benway’s moving story of grief begins exactly one year after a family’s tragic loss. Fifteen-year-old Leo’s older sister Nina, 17, was killed in a car accident while driving home from a party 365 days ago; an accident that Leo, despite living it, doesn’t remember. Now 16, all Leo can recall is leaving the party and seeing the police car’s lights after a drunk driver plowed into the siblings’ vehicle. In the days since the accident, Leo’s family has struggled to navigate their heartbreak (“Grief still comes in waves, pulling the memory of Nina closer and then further away”). Leo’s closest confidant is Nina’s former boyfriend, East, who knows the truth of what happened that devastating night—but he won’t tell Leo. As the clock winds back and details slowly emerge, Benway (Far from the Tree) highlights pivotal days throughout the year, rendering a persuasive portrait of heartache and loss. While the conclusion lacks the narrative’s emotional intensity, suspense, unanswered questions, and raw emotion blend together in an honest examination of one family’s varying symptoms and stages of grief. Most characters cue as white. Ages 13–up. Agent: Lisa Grubka, Fletcher & Co. (June)
From the Publisher
"A moving exploration of grief in all its unpredictable messiness... An intelligent, compassionate examination of a family enduring a nightmare." — Kirkus Reviews
"The backward chronology is a bold and worthy experiment... A Year to the Day is a moving exploration of how the mind both punishes and protects, and a reminder of how fortunate we are to love and be loved, even if only for a short time." — New York Times Book Review
"The intense magic of Benway’s storytelling will be most welcome to those who loved her Far From the Tree." — Youth Services Book Review
"Told in reverse chronological order, A Year to the Day will claim a permanent home in your heart." — School Library Journal
"Suspense, unanswered questions, and raw emotion blend together in an honest examination of one family’s varying symptoms and stages of grief." — Publishers Weekly
"An emotional gut punch. Give this to empathetic readers who are ready for an emotional journey less about closure than understanding." — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
"Simultaneously gut-wrenching and heartening, as grief and love so often are. Its [A Year to the Day] unusual structure effectively relates a timeless story in a new and engaging way as Benway offers beautiful, profound reflections on loss, healing and forgiveness. Ultimately, Leo’s story is a lesson in self-compassion and hope, reminding readers that moving forward doesn’t mean forgetting the past, and although love can be painful, it’s worth holding on to." — BookPage (Starred Review)
Praise for Far From the Tree: “Family issues are neither airbrushed nor oversimplified. From the first page to the last, this compassionate, funny, moving, compulsively readable novel about what makes a family gets it right.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Equally heartwarming and heart-wrenching... Benway (Emmy & Oliver) delves into the souls of these characters as they wrestle to overcome feelings of inadequacy, abandonment, and betrayal, gradually coming to understand themselves and each other.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A brilliant exercise in empathy.” — New York Times Book Review
“A sensitive exploration of what it means to be a family…With an abundance of warmth and humor, the novel continues to circle back to the message that love doesn’t require perfection — that perhaps it reveals itself most fully when we don’t quite get it right, but keep trying.” — Chicago Tribune
“Benway adeptly leads readers through a tale of love, loss, and self-discovery. Expect to cry real tears at this one.” — School Library Journal
“Far from the Tree is the kind of book that strikes close to a reader’s heart. I had to know what happened to Grace, Maya, and Joaquin, and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. Beautiful.” — Ally Condie, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of the Matched trilogy
“Far from the Tree is a touching story about the strength and love of unconventional families, and the unbreakable bond of siblings near and far. Robin Benway’s characters are authentically crafted, full of heart, hurt, and hope.” — Brandy Colbert, author of Pointe and Little & Lion
“A beautifully written story about the families we’re born with and the families we choose, as well as the power — and potential pain — of that choice.” — Bustle
“A deeply moving novel...The trials the three teens face are always confronted directly and never diminished; their relationships, both new and old, are complicated and beautiful.” — Shelf Awareness
“Far from the Tree dives deep into themes of heartbreak and love, and presents a profound, emotional meditation on what it means to be family.” — Brightly
“If you’ve even once wept at NBC’s This Is Us, you particularly owe it to yourself to pick this one up.” — NPR.org
“The book really is something special.” — Wall Street Journal
“Readers will appreciate the explorations of family, stigma, and vulnerability. Benway is looking to follow in the Caroline Cooney footsteps of smart, realism-grounded stories.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
Ally Condie
Far from the Tree is the kind of book that strikes close to a reader’s heart. I had to know what happened to Grace, Maya, and Joaquin, and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. Beautiful.”
Brandy Colbert
Far from the Tree is a touching story about the strength and love of unconventional families, and the unbreakable bond of siblings near and far. Robin Benway’s characters are authentically crafted, full of heart, hurt, and hope.”
Chicago Tribune
A sensitive exploration of what it means to be a family…With an abundance of warmth and humor, the novel continues to circle back to the message that love doesn’t require perfection — that perhaps it reveals itself most fully when we don’t quite get it right, but keep trying.”
Bustle
A beautifully written story about the families we’re born with and the families we choose, as well as the power — and potential pain — of that choice.”
New York Times Book Review
A brilliant exercise in empathy.”
Shelf Awareness
A deeply moving novel...The trials the three teens face are always confronted directly and never diminished; their relationships, both new and old, are complicated and beautiful.”
Chicago Tribune
A sensitive exploration of what it means to be a family…With an abundance of warmth and humor, the novel continues to circle back to the message that love doesn’t require perfection — that perhaps it reveals itself most fully when we don’t quite get it right, but keep trying.”
Brightly
Far from the Tree dives deep into themes of heartbreak and love, and presents a profound, emotional meditation on what it means to be family.”
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
Readers will appreciate the explorations of family, stigma, and vulnerability. Benway is looking to follow in the Caroline Cooney footsteps of smart, realism-grounded stories.”
Wall Street Journal
The book really is something special.”
NPR.org
If you’ve even once wept at NBC’s This Is Us, you particularly owe it to yourself to pick this one up.”
Wall Street Journal
The book really is something special.”
School Library Journal
07/01/2022
Gr 9 Up—A beautiful story of a sister grieving and learning to move on. The year before, Leo's sister Nina died in a car accident, the details of which she can't remember. Nina's boyfriend, East, was there that night, and he remembers what took place, bearing the memory of it all. Leo asks East to tell her what happened, but he won't say anything, believing he's protecting her. Leo faces many challenges throughout the first year after Nina's death without her to lean on. The story opens with Nina's memorial service and is told through a backwards time line, ending with the night of the accident. Benway skillfully connects the chapters despite the reverse chronology. Each chapter title lets readers know the date and how long it has been since the accident, making the events easy to follow. While it is clear to readers that the time line will end with the accident and Nina's death, there are still surprises throughout. Most characters are cued as white. VERDICT This story will stay with readers long after they have finished the book; a first purchase for libraries.—Amanda Borgia
DECEMBER 2022 - AudioFile
This young adult title offers a plot revealed in reverse: The audiobook begins a year to the day after Nina's death; her little sister Leo's grief moves backward toward the fateful night of the accident, bringing listeners along to discover the painful details. Sarah Goer's performance is clear and quiet, punctuated by moments of enthusiasm. For the most part, the audiobook is fine, albeit slow-paced. Goer's voice shifts among characters, and sometimes the vocal distinctions sound forced. Leo struggles to remember anything from the accident, a problem that is a central focus of the story: What actually happened? And how does one manage grief and move toward an emotional place that is more habitable? Fans of Benway will enjoy this sensitive exploration. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2022-03-16
A young woman in Southern California struggles with the agony of her sister’s death from a car accident.
Sixteen-year-old Leo’s favorite person was her older sister, Nina, whose outspoken, funny persona endeared her to many. In a series of chronologically reversed vignettes over the course of the year since Nina’s death, ending with one that takes place just hours before the accident that takes her life, Benway presents a nuanced, realistic portrait of the losses experienced by those closest to Nina—Leo; their mother, father, and stepmother; and Nina’s boyfriend, East. The novel’s structure is an interesting and mostly successful narrative technique: While the movement of time can be a little difficult to track, the dates that preface each chapter, labeled in terms of where they fall in relation to the accident, help to keep the timeline from becoming too confusing so readers can focus on the moving exploration of grief in all its unpredictable messiness. Authentic, often sarcastically funny dialogue and texts bring a lightness and grim humor to interactions Leo has with East and others. Her divorced parents and stepmother are poignantly developed secondary characters, and the intricate dynamics of Leo’s relationships with each of them underscore the ripple effect that occurs in families following a tragic loss. All the main characters seem to be White and middle class.
An intelligent, compassionate examination of a family enduring a nightmare. (Fiction. 13-18)
