Denis Ever After

by Tony Abbott

Overview

Written by award-winning author Tony Abbott and perfect for fans of The Ethan I Was Before and The Thing About Jellyfish, this bittersweet middle grade novel follows the ghost of Denis Egan as he teams up with his living twin brother to solve the mystery of his death.

Denis Egan is dead. 

He’s okay with that. It’s been five years since he died, and the place where souls go is actually pretty nice. Sure, there are some things about his life and how it ended he can’t quite recall, but that’s how it’s supposed to be. Remembering could prevent Denis from moving on to whatever’s next. 

However, something is standing in his way. His twin brother Matt can’t let go of him, and as long as the living are holding on to his memory, Denis can’t rest in peace.

To uncover the truth about what happened that day five years before, Denis returns to his hometown and teams up with Matt. But visiting for too long has painful consequences for Denis, and Matt’s renewed interest in his brother’s passing is driving a wedge between his still-grieving parents.

Can the two boys solve the mystery of Denis’s death without breaking apart the family he’s left behind? 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062491220
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	07/24/2018
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	638,610
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)
Lexile:	620L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 12 Years

About the Author

Tony Abbott is the author of over a hundred books for young readers, including the bestseling series the Secrets of Droon and the Copernicus Legacy and the novels Firegirl and The Summer of Owen Todd. Tony has worked in libraries, in bookstores, and in a publishing company and has taught creative writing. He has two grown daughters and lives in Connecticut with his wife and two dogs. You can visit him online at www.tonyabottbooks.com.

Editorial Reviews

05/21/2018
Since his death at age seven, Denis has been living in Port Haven, where souls still remembered by the living go after they die. Denis’s twin, Matt, remembers Denis so vividly that Denis has continued to grow, unlike most of the Port Haven residents, who remain the age that they were upon their death and, once completely forgotten by the living, move on to Garden Hills. But Matt has just discovered the investigation surrounding Denis’s death, left purposefully unresolved by their father, who can’t seem to let Denis go. Matt becomes so obsessed with finding the killer that Denis must return to the land of the living (a painful but doable process) to help his family uncover the truth. Abbot (the Secrets of Droon series) blends a taut and twisted murder mystery with a profound reflection on grief and learning to move on. Denis comes to see the “thousand, thousand threads” that bind people and realizes that the powerful connections forged through love cannot be broken, even in death. Ages 8–12. Agent: Robert Guinsler, Sterling Lord Literistic. (July)

Publishers Weekly

Abbott steadily guides readers through a dark quagmire of questions, anger, and fraying family bonds that are nevertheless held together by love. Surprising twists and turns braid the story’s disparate parts into a revelatory whole that brings healing to its characters and won’t be forgotten by its readers anytime soon.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Luminous and revelatory. A riveting mystery that I couldn’t put down for the life (or death) of me.” — Lauren Myracle, New York Times bestselling author of the Wishing Day series

“A brutally moving and deeply layered story full of heart and hope.” — Leslie Connor, award-winning author of All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook

“Witty, suspenseful and full of hope, Denis Ever After fearlessly travels into the dark mysteries of life, the afterlife and the spaces in between.” — Shelf Awareness

“A taut and twisted murder mystery with a profound reflection on grief and learning to move on. Denis comes to see the “thousand, thousand threads” that bind people and realizes that the powerful connections forged through love cannot be broken, even in death.” — Publishers Weekly

“Abbott keeps the tension high and the mystery dark and unsettling, leavening it with several flashes of humor and intriguing imaginative speculation about the dead. Page-turning.” — Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Tony Abbott: “A touching story of friendship that is easy to read yet hard to forget.” — School Library Journal

★ “Beautifully crafted and written.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Full of mystery and intrigue, this book had me completely transfixed.” — Ridley Pearson, New York Times bestselling author of the Kingdom Keepers series

“The book is so enticing that readers will go along even when the going is rough.” — Booklist

“With every narrative turn, Tony Abbott brings these never-before-seen perspectives into view... Untold. Unforgettable.” — Rita Williams-Garcia, author of One Crazy Summer

“With its portrayal of a family on the verge of falling apart following the death of a child and the young person’s narration from the afterlife, this suggests The Lovely Bones shaped for a younger audience…the story is handled with remarkable grace.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

From the Publisher

A brutally moving and deeply layered story full of heart and hope.

Leslie Connor

Abbott steadily guides readers through a dark quagmire of questions, anger, and fraying family bonds that are nevertheless held together by love. Surprising twists and turns braid the story’s disparate parts into a revelatory whole that brings healing to its characters and won’t be forgotten by its readers anytime soon.

Booklist (starred review)

Witty, suspenseful and full of hope, Denis Ever After fearlessly travels into the dark mysteries of life, the afterlife and the spaces in between.

Shelf Awareness

Luminous and revelatory. A riveting mystery that I couldn’t put down for the life (or death) of me.

Lauren Myracle

Full of mystery and intrigue, this book had me completely transfixed.

Ridley Pearson

The book is so enticing that readers will go along even when the going is rough.

Booklist

With every narrative turn, Tony Abbott brings these never-before-seen perspectives into view... Untold. Unforgettable.

Rita Williams-Garcia

With its portrayal of a family on the verge of falling apart following the death of a child and the young person’s narration from the afterlife, this suggests The Lovely Bones shaped for a younger audience…the story is handled with remarkable grace.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

With its portrayal of a family on the verge of falling apart following the death of a child and the young person’s narration from the afterlife, this suggests The Lovely Bones shaped for a younger audience…the story is handled with remarkable grace.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

The book is so enticing that readers will go along even when the going is rough.

Booklist

2018-03-27
Denis returns from the afterlife to help his twin brother solve the mystery of how he died.Narrator Denis has been dead for 5 years. Because the sojourn in Port Haven, Denis' post-death residence since he was 7, is about letting go of the threads of life, backward from dying, Denis doesn't remember what happened to him. Denis' twin, Matt, now 12, has found their father's file on his brother's disappearance from an amusement park and the subsequent discovery of the boy's body at the Georgia monument in Gettysburg, and he wants answers: What happened to Denis? Denis—hoping to help his brother find peace—goes through "the razor," a frightening and painful process that allows the dead to visit the living. Together, with some help from Matt's best friend, Trey, they follow the few clues available to them, all the while navigating their parents' grief and distress. News of a car submerged in a quarry and a strange stalker add to the mystery, while red herrings, past violence and tragedies, and Denis' fragmented recollections intensify the challenge. The characters seem to be white. A great-uncle was gay, and Trey is someone whose gender Denis never figures out. Abbott keeps the tension high and the mystery dark and unsettling, leavening it with several flashes of humor and intriguing imaginative speculation about the dead. Page-turning. (Mystery/ghost story. 10-13)

Kirkus Reviews

Kirby Heyborne narrates this mystery/ghost story in the voice of Denis Egan, who was 7 when he disappeared and was found dead miles away. That was five years ago. Heyborne is a believable Denis as he decides to leave “Port Haven” to confront his twin brother so they can both move on. Heyborne also gives the other characters unique voices that bring them to life. The anger and sorrow in his brother Matt’s voice is realistic and often heartrending. The grief and guilt of the brothers’ parents is also palpable. GeeGee, Denis’s great-grandmother and mentor in Port Haven, guides him in a believable elderly voice as she recounts family history, and the characters One-Eye and Sandbag sound appropriately scary and menacing. The story’s twist at the end is satisfying. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2018 - AudioFile

Kirby Heyborne narrates this mystery/ghost story in the voice of Denis Egan, who was 7 when he disappeared and was found dead miles away. That was five years ago. Heyborne is a believable Denis as he decides to leave “Port Haven” to confront his twin brother so they can both move on. Heyborne also gives the other characters unique voices that bring them to life. The anger and sorrow in his brother Matt’s voice is realistic and often heartrending. The grief and guilt of the brothers’ parents is also palpable. GeeGee, Denis’s great-grandmother and mentor in Port Haven, guides him in a believable elderly voice as she recounts family history, and the characters One-Eye and Sandbag sound appropriately scary and menacing. The story’s twist at the end is satisfying. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2018 - AudioFile