"Loss, friendship and the light of re-finding your way | An exceptional novel about grief, guilt and finding solace in celebrating loved ones’ lives."
I adored the author’s haunting southern gothic-spiced debut (The Serpent King), and the same exquisite storytelling shines through here from the opening pages, when seventeen-year-old Carver reveals that his three best friends, Mars, Blake and Eli, were killed in a car crash as the driver, Mars, replied to Carver’s text. Collectively, they were the “Sauce Crew”, four creative teenagers with exciting futures on their near horizons, but now three lives have been cut short, and it feels to Carver as if his life is over too. He’s shattered by grief, and then a criminal investigation into the accident exacerbates his turmoil. But there’s hope to be had from the special memorial days suggested by Blake’s adorable, wise Nana Betsy.
The characterisation is masterful, blending painterly personal detail with broader strokes that lay universalities bare, and the writing expresses emotional rawness - the choke of Carver's panic attacks, the blinding thunderstorm of his nightmares - with a powerful punch. Jeff Zentner is the real deal.
| Primary Genre | Young Adult Fiction |
| Other Genres: |
"Gorgeous, heartbreaking, and ultimately life-affirming." -Nicola Yoon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything.
Perfect for fans of Turtles All the Way Down,Thirteen Reasons Why, and Zentner's own The Serpent King, one of the most highly acclaimed YA novels of 2016, Goodbye Days asks what you would do if you could spend one last day with someone you lost.
Where are you guys? Text me back. That's the last message Carver Briggs will ever send his three best friends, Mars, Eli, and Blake. He never thought that it would lead to their death.
Now Carver can't stop blaming himself for the accident and even worse, a powerful judge is pressuring the district attorney to open up a criminal investigation.
Luckily, Carver has some unexpected allies: Eli's girlfriend, the only person to stand by him at school; Dr. Mendez, his new therapist; and Blake's grandmother, who asks Carver to spend a "goodbye day" together to share their memories and say a proper farewell.
Soon the other families are asking for their own goodbye day with Carver-but he's unsure of their motives. Will they all be able to make peace with their losses, or will these goodbye days bring Carver one step closer to a complete breakdown or-even worse-prison?
"Jeff Zentner, you perfectly fill the John-Green-sized hole in our heart." -Justine Magazine
"Evocative, heartbreaking, and beautifully written." -Buzzfeed
"Masterful." -TeenVogue.com
"Hold on to your heart: this book will wreck you, fix you, and most definitely change you." -Becky Albertalli, Morris Award-winning author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Goodbye Days features in the following genres: Young Adult Fiction, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Relationship stories, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Death and grief, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Families and family members, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Children’s / Teenage: Personal and social topics
Goodbye Days is available in Ebook, Paperback, Hardback
Goodbye Days was written by Jeff Zentner and published by Crown Books for Young Readers an imprint of Random House Children's Books
Goodbye Days has 416 pages
