“They’re all on the same page, even if that page is in the middle of an ongoing story with an uncertain end.”
My experience reading Dear Edward felt like I was constantly teetering on the edge of a cliff, just waiting to tip over. This book is INTENSE, but it’s subtle. Alternating between the ill-fated flight’s path and our “present-day” journey with Edward, the build-up throughout this book is incredible.
The airplane chapters gave me massive anxiety – I’m already nervous about flying in general, and the mundaneness and personal examination of a handful of passengers just felt a little too real (but this is a testament to Napolitano’s writing. It’s…amazing.)
“It feels unkind that they are shoving their emotions at him when his own sadness and fear are so vast that he has to hide from them.”
The post-crash chapters felt so real, and so raw. You just want to reach into the book and hug Edward. Being 12 is hard enough – when you pile an unimaginably tragic loss on top of that, it’s excruciating. I didn’t find this book OVERLY emotional (but a part near the very end got me) and I think part of that is due to the fact that Edward seems numb for a lot of the story, and we’re really experiencing things through his eyes. Napolitano also covers how the crash and aftermath impacts the people around Edward – most notably his aunt and uncle, and their neighbors.
Oh, and the principal was my favorite character by far!
“So much could be solved, she thinks, if we simply held hands with each other more often.”
Read with Aimee 