JUNE 2016 - AudioFile
As the author of this book, Paul Griffin knows his characters inside and out. His narration sparkles with all the nuances that his intimate knowledge brings. The plot involves a foster home, a stray dog, the death of an adoptive parent, and other significant events. As the preteens in the story, Griffin delivers all the snarkiness of 12-year-olds. As hero Ben Coffin, Griffin conveys private moments of optimism and despair and captures spot-on conversations between Ben and his friend, Chuckie. Portraying adults, Griffin imparts the warmth and care in some and communicates the discomfort of those who don’t have an affinity for kids. As Mrs. Lorenz, in particular, Griffin illuminates the gentle sarcasm and wisdom of a woman who sees the boy within Ben and decides to bring him into her family. A.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
The New York Times Book Review - Renee Dale
Surely a kid like Ben earns top honors in the life-is-hard Olympics. Yet this bittersweet, well-paced book is not depressing. It left me with faith that people can feel discarded, as though everything they love will be taken from them, and still end up whole, if they are touched by love and friendship. There is the human drama of wondering what will become of Ben, if he'll luck into a new family that can heal him, but there are, mercifully, no real villains.
Publishers Weekly
★ 03/28/2016
After growing up in foster care, 12-year-old Ben Coffin is just happy to have a home and a loving mother; living in Coney Island is icing on the cake. Ben adores the beach, the boardwalk, and the local librarian, Mrs. Lorentz. When he meets her daughter, Halley, there is an instant connection, fueled in part by Flip, a dog Ben rescues from the street. Soon Ben and Halley are best friends, collaborating on a fantasy story and hanging out all the time, even as she undergoes chemotherapy. But Ben has learned that good things don’t tend to last, and when his mother dies, and Halley’s treatments begin to fail, he has to dig deep to find faith in people, the world, and himself. As in his young adult books, Griffin (Adrift) handles hard topics with penetrating insight and honesty, while balancing painful moments (and there are many) with levity, such as Flip’s need to lick everyone on the mouth. Ben wrestles with big questions in relatable, realistic ways, and his huge heart and optimism will win over even the most hardened skeptics. Ages 10–up. Agent: Jodi Reamer, Writers House. (June)
From the Publisher
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
A People magazine Popular Pick
A Summer 2016 Kids’ Indie Next Pick
A Publishers Weekly Best of Summer Pick
"[T]his bittersweet, well-paced book…left me with faith that people can feel discarded, as though everything they love will be taken from them, and still end up whole, if they are touched by love of friendship." — The New York Times Book Review
"Griffin writes beautifully about family, friendship, belonging, and loss in a story that is sure to leave every reader with at least a tear in his or her eye, if not a pile of soggy tissues."—Examiner
"If you have middle schoolers who are too young to fully grasp John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars and love dogs, give them this sweet tearjerker." — School Library Journal
"The dialogue between Ben and Halley is snappy and smart (think John Green for middle-graders), and the sci-fi story the two friends write together reveals the emotions behind their wit."—BCCB
"Full of pace and laughter, bruises and heart. Paul Griffin is the sort of writer you're torn between telling the whole world about and keeping all to yourself."—Markus Zusak, author of Printz Honor Winner The Book Thief
“‘Friendship’ is an absolutely beautiful, heart-expanding book. I cried, but more than that I felt this giant balloon of love for everyone. This story convinced me all over again that love and imagination are life’s biggest magic. It’ll make you want to grab hold of everyone important to you and lick them on the nose.” —Rebecca Stead, author of Newbery Award winner When You Reach Me
"Some books change the way you see the world. Some change the way you breathe. This book will leave you breathless. This is Paul Griffin's best book yet—and that's really saying something." —Patricia McCormick, author of National Book Award Finalist Sold
"When Friendship Followed Me Home is both a beautiful book, and an honest book; it is, in fact, beautiful because it is honest. We see the pain of loss, and the glory of community. We see love in its many forms, and we witness the truth that love goes on despite all barriers. Cheer for Ben and Halley: it is kids like these who are our hope.” —Gary D. Schmidt, author of Okay for Now
* "Entrancing, magical, tragic, and uplifting." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review
* "As in his young adult books, Griffin (Adrift) handles hard topics with penetrating insight and honesty, while balancing painful moments (and there are many) with levity." — Publishers Weekly, starred review
"This is a multi-tissue read...Griffin’s characters are unique and charmingly multidimensional. Readerslooking for a deep read will take to this story as quickly as Flip takes to Ben." — Booklist
School Library Journal
04/01/2016
Gr 5–8—Twelve-year-old Ben, a science fiction fan with low self-esteem after years of foster care, meets a stray dog outside the Coney Island Public Library. Flip, with his big eyes and propensity to lick everyone's mouth, in turn helps Ben get to know a girl who is fighting cancer, and her family. When Ben's life gets turned upside down again, Flip remains. This is a "kitchen sink" book; it has bullying, adoption, homelessness, death, abuse, and cancer. However, the optimism of the protagonist combined with the positivity lent by the presence of this loving canine makes this book somehow less hard-hitting than the author's usual YA dramas. Griffin never throws too much at readers at once, taking his protagonist through each successive challenge, and the dialogue remains consistently light and free of overt emotion. References to science fiction and middle grade literature abound, and there's some serious admiration for dogs, librarians, and Jacqueline Woodson's Feathers. The weakest part of this novel is the convoluted science fiction story Ben and the aforementioned girl unspool throughout. The plot-within-a-plot is written by these two imaginative kids with unfettered fancy, with the same quality of a child's writing. If readers can get past those sections, however, the relentless pull of Ben's slow character growth through his drama and the big loving doggy presence will pull misty-eyed readers to the very end. VERDICT If you have middle schoolers who are too young to fully grasp John Green's The Fault in Our Stars and love dogs, give them this sweet tearjerker.—Rhona Campbell, Georgetown Day School, Washington, DC
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2016-03-02
A former foster child deals with love and loss and love again. The hints are abundant. Twelve-year-old Ben, who has taken most of his life lessons from reading Star Wars stories, is the adoptive son of a loving and understanding but elderly lesbian. The charming mite of a stray dog that adopts the white boy is also old. Most worryingly, the endearingly depicted Halley, his fully rounded new best friend, also white and the daughter of a so-perceptive librarian and a funny magician, is undergoing chemotherapy. What could go wrong here? After he discovers his dead mom on the floor, Ben's remote but well-intentioned aunt and abusive, bumbling uncle, the pair constantly at odds, become his reluctant new parents. What resilient, generous Ben, in a lifetime of foster care punctuated by loss, hasn't learned is how to believe in the lasting power of love. It's irrepressible Halley, her health faltering, and her gentle parents who teach him how to cope with loss without forgetting how to love, even when that love is perilous. Together he and Halley compose an otherworldly tale, The Magic Box, that's a parable of their lives. Those familiar with Griffin's books for teens know that Kleenex may be needed to successfully navigate this wrenching journey, which breathes fresh, warm life into what might have been an overworked cliché. Entrancing, magical, tragic, and uplifting. (Fiction. 10-14)
