Sorry for Your Loss

by Jessie Ann Foley

Overview

From Printz Honor winner and Morris Award finalist Jessie Ann Foley comes a comitragic YA novel that will appeal to fans of Jandy Nelson and Jeff Zentner.

As the youngest of eight, painfully average Pup Flanagan is used to flying under the radar. He’s barely passing his classes. He lets his longtime crush walk all over him. And he’s in no hurry to decide on a college path.

The only person who ever made him think he could be more was his older brother Patrick. But that was before Patrick died suddenly, leaving Pup with a family who won’t talk about it and acquaintances who just keep saying, “sorry for your loss.”

When Pup excels at a photography assignment he thought he’d bomb, things start to come into focus. His dream girl shows her true colors. An unexpected friend exposes Pup to a whole new world, right under his nose.

And the photograph that was supposed to show Pup a way out of his grief ultimately reveals someone else who is still stuck in their own. Someone with a secret regret Pup never could have imagined.

Winner of the 2020-2021 North Star YA Award

Named to YALSA's Best Fiction for Young Adults List

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062571922
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/11/2020
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	547,003
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Jessie Ann Foley is the Printz Honor–winning author of the YA novels The Carnival at Bray, Neighborhood Girls, Sorry for Your Loss, and You Know I’m No Good. For middle graders, she has written Breda's Island and the forthcoming Severe and Unusual Weather. Her work has been named to best-of lists by Kirkus Reviews, ALA Booklist, YALSA, Entertainment Weekly, and many other outlets and has been featured on school and library recommended reading lists all across the United States. Jessie lives with her family in Chicago, where she was born and raised. You can visit her online at jessieannfoley.com.

Editorial Reviews

Invaluable.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Invaluable.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

06/24/2019

Set in Chicago, this introspective story about grief within a large family focuses on high school junior Pup Flanagan, the overshadowed youngest of eight children. Now, almost three years after Pup’s brother Patrick died suddenly while at college, the Flanagans seem to have moved on, all except for Pup and his brother Luke, a law student. Luke has developed a drinking problem, and Pup has failed at romance and is in danger of failing Studio Art. As a last-ditch effort to save his grade, he tries photography at his teacher’s suggestion. With the help of a mentor, Albrihet, an advanced art student and Eritrean immigrant who is navigating problems within her own close-knit family, Pup finds a way to use his camera as a vehicle to express the impact of his loss. Well-delineated characters and Foley’s (Neighborhood Girls) subtle hand distinguish this moving novel, showing Pup’s gradual healing process as he gains enough courage and self-confidence to help his alcoholic brother and establish a meaningful relationship with Albrihet. Scenes of the Flanagans’ weekly family dinners, which include in-laws and cousins, are perhaps the most revealing, effectively capturing the family’s unspoken tensions, loyalty, and love. Ages 14–up. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Luminous, wise, lyrical, and hilarious. Pup Flanagan is the best sort of underdog hero. This book’s pages can barely contain the hugeness of its beating heart.” — Jeff Zentner, author of the NYT Notable Book The Serpent King

“Foley deftly paints a portrait exploring the different ways that grief and loss affect the members of a loving yet broken family. An introspective novel about the healing power of art with light touches of tears, laughter, and romance.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Printz Honor winner Foley takes readers through tenderhearted and sometimes painfully funny observations. It’s a narrative that is threaded through with incredible feeling. A warm and clear-eyed examination of a family swimming through grief and a boy who finds the light.” — ALA Booklist (starred review)

“There are wonderful moments of levity, but ultimately the book is a poignant examination of the loss of a loved one during the time between adolescence and adulthood. Written with Foley’s keen ear for family dynamics, this is definitely a strong choice.”
— School Library Journal

“Invaluable.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“Through confident, expressive narration, Foley...provides an affirming conclusion to this delicately told coming-of-age story.” — Horn Book Magazine

“Well-delineated characters and Foley’s subtle hand distinguish this moving novel.” — Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

Invaluable.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Luminous, wise, lyrical, and hilarious. Pup Flanagan is the best sort of underdog hero. This book’s pages can barely contain the hugeness of its beating heart.

Jeff Zentner

Printz Honor winner Foley takes readers through tenderhearted and sometimes painfully funny observations. It’s a narrative that is threaded through with incredible feeling. A warm and clear-eyed examination of a family swimming through grief and a boy who finds the light.

ALA Booklist (starred review)

Through confident, expressive narration, Foley...provides an affirming conclusion to this delicately told coming-of-age story.

Horn Book Magazine

05/01/2019

Gr 9 Up—Award-winning author Foley has crafted another outstanding YA novel in the story of James "Pup" Flanagan. As the youngest of eight children, Pup is quickly sinking in his grief over his brother's sudden death. Patrick's passing is particularly painful for Pup because he was the only one who made Pup feel important. Their family refuses to discuss his death and even well-meaning friends can say little more than "sorry for your loss." Helping Pup gain new perspective and healing are his art teacher, Mr. Hughes, and girl crushes new and old. After a year of mediocre art projects from Pup, Mr. Hughes sees something in one of Pup's photographs. That belief in him as an artist, that opportunity to excel in the face of failure, sets up Pup's journey. There are wonderful moments of levity, but ultimately the book is a poignant examination of the loss of a loved one during the time between adolescence and adulthood and how events like that shape lives forever. The text successfully navigates the grieving process in a meaningful way. VERDICT Written with Foley's keen ear for family dynamics, this is definitely a strong choice for fans of her work and those new to the author.—Elaine Baran Black, Georgia Public Library Service, Atlanta

School Library Journal

Narrator Ron Butler has a challenging task in describing Pup Flanagan’s large family. Sixteen-year-old Pup is the youngest of five “sister-mothers” and Luke, an angry, alcoholic brother. Butler manages to distinguish all of them, their overwhelming collective presence, and the unexpressed grief that lingers after the death of Patrick, the oldest. Though it’s been two years, Pup is listless at school, uninvolved in his studies. The stress of watching Luke’s descent into alcoholism, seeing his parents’ inattention to life, and missing the loving support of Patrick saps his energy. New beginnings come when Pup breaks out of the role of youngest child, discovers personal expression through photography, and finds the courage to confront the painful silence and hidden hurts of his family. A poignant, believable portrait of grief. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2019 - AudioFile