Publishers Weekly
★ 05/27/2024
Twelve-year-old, white-cued Alex’s mother has been missing for almost a year. Now sleeping on a lumpy couch in the home of his indifferent aunt and uncle, Alex harbors a simmering anger that soon boils over into an act of violence. A sympathetic social worker provides Alex the opportunity to avoid juvenile detention by spending the summer working at Shady Glen Retirement Home; once there, he immediately picks a fight with another volunteer. But with limited options—and nothing better to do—he returns to Shady Glen and meets 107-year-old Josey Kravitz, a Polish Holocaust survivor who “stopped talking and waited to die” following the death of his lost love. Drawn to Alex, Josey begins telling him the story of his doomed romance with fiercely intelligent Olka, a seamstress at his family’s clothing store who teaches young Josey how to sew, a skill that would save his life. Written in second person from Josey’s perspective, this tale of intergenerational friendship forged through a shared understanding of loss by Forman (Frankie and Bug) is told with spellbinding grace and wrought with exquisite structuring that quietly highlights the heartrending parallels between Josey’s WWII remembrances and Alex’s current struggles. Ages 10–up. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary. (Aug.)
bestselling author of Newbery Honor Book The Inqui Adam Gidwitz
Not Nothing is a masterpiece. It has so many feelings and moral conundrums and ultra-urgent themes—it should be a community-wide read all over the country. Timely, funny, perfect.
The Horn Book
"Forman crafts a unique story, told in the voice of a wiser, older character; everything feels close and personal, from Alex’s present to Jozef’s past. She captures the quietly powerful moments of feeling seen and known, how friendships can make a bleak life feel fresh with possibilities, and how a person’s worst moments need not shape their future."
Newbery Award-winning author of The One and Only I Katherine Applegate
This stunning, masterfully told story of compassion, forgiveness, and joy is the book we all need at the time we all need it. Profound, heart-healing, and life-changing.
R. J. Palacio
Not Nothing is a beautifully-written, poignant, life-affirming gem about ordinary people doing extraordinary things during unimaginable times. Ultimately, it’s a story about stories, those spoken memories handed down from generation to generation that inspire us all to ‘rise to the occasion of our lives’. Bravo, Gayle Forman!
Elana Arnold
"Not Nothing is a luminous gift, a story that respects and acknowledges the complexity of the human experience—and, by extension, the complexity of its readers. I loved it."
award-winning author of Torpedoed: The Tr Deborah Heiligman
It’s not nothing when a story grabs you from the first line and keeps you turning pages until the last. It’s not nothing when a story (two actually) makes you laugh, cry, worry, wonder, and cry again. It’s not nothing when a book captures your heart, expands your mind, and stays with you long after you’ve reluctantly read the last word.
starred review Booklist
* "Forman is a master of the slow, heart-wrenching reveal . . . those who stick with this story will be richly rewarded."
starred review Publishers Weekly
* "This tale of intergenerational friendship forged through a shared understanding of loss by Forman (Frankie and Bug) is told with spellbinding grace and wrought with exquisite structuring that quietly highlights the heartrending parallels between Josey’s WWII remembrances and Alex’s current struggles."
author of Carnegie Medal-winning Salt to the Sea a Ruta Sepetys
Tenderly layered and beautifully constructed. Forman weaves an intensely moving portrait of stories separated by generations but inextricably connected by the experience of having known love and lost it.
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of —Sarah Mlynowski
Beautiful, heart-wrenching, and impossible to put down, Not Nothing is a story about the power of love, hope, and forgiveness.
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of —Sarah Mlynowski
Beautiful, heart-wrenching, and impossible to put down, Not Nothing is a story about the power of love, hope, and forgiveness.
SEPTEMBER 2024 - AudioFile
Dion Graham's masterful narration clarifies this novel's shifts in point of view and vividly defines its main characters, 107-year-old Josey Kravitz and 12-year-old Alex. The richness of Graham's Polish accent for Josey augments the power of his storytelling and his tragic past, as well as his caring personality. Graham's delivery also reveals Alex's feelings of hopelessness and guilt over an unidentified "incident." Gradually, listeners come to understand what these characters have in common. Graham's performance also gives humorous views of the elderly residents of Shady Glen, a care home where Alex volunteers, and captures Alex's social worker's reassuring belief in him. Gayle Forman reads the author's note describing her creative journey in writing this novel. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2024-05-04
The boy “did something bad. Truly bad.”
A 107-year-old narrator speaks directly to someone named Olka, saying the stories in the book are about “me and you” as well as the boy, Alex (who presents white). What follows is an intense dual narrative that moves between the speaker’s tragic life during the Holocaust and contemporary 12-year-old Alex’s tale of loss and its aftermath. Alex’s mother has disappeared, and he lives with an aunt and uncle who don’t want him. His resentment, self-loathing, and all-consuming anger cause him to commit a violent act, “the Incident,” for which he’s arrested. His social worker arranges community service at Shady Glen Retirement Home, where he meets the narrator, Joseph “Josey” Kravitz, who keeps to himself and hasn’t spoken in five years. But he’s drawn to Alex and decides to share his story. When Alex’s terrible Incident is finally disclosed, readers will grasp its gravity. Both storylines are filled with misunderstandings, tragedy, horrible acts of hatred, and selfless acts of bravery, which affect the protagonists in profound ways. As they realize that they have much in common, both Alex and Josey learn they can “rise to the occasion of [their] lives.” Best-selling award winner Forman interweaves the tales carefully, with striking language and depth of feeling, allowing readers to understand the characters’ changing perspectives as they learn more about themselves and open up to people around them, many of whom become advocates and friends.
Powerful, heartbreaking, and hopeful. (author’s note, bibliography, further reading) (Fiction. 10-14)
