What About Will

by Ellen Hopkins Narrated by Michael Wetherbee

Overview

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins comes a new heartbreakingly tender middle grade novel in verse about the bonds between two brothers and the love they share.

Twelve-year-old Trace Reynolds has always looked up to his brother, mostly because Will, who's five years older, has never looked down on him. It was Will who taught Trace to ride a bike, would watch sports on TV with him, and cheer him on at Little League. But when Will was knocked out cold during a football game, resulting in a brain injury--everything changed. Now, seventeen months later, their family is still living under the weight of "the incident," that left Will with a facial tic, depression, and an anger he cannot always control, culminating in their parents' divorce. Afraid of further fracturing his family, Trace begins to cover for Will who, struggling with addiction to pain medication, becomes someone Trace doesn't recognize. But when the brother he loves so much becomes more and more withdrawn, and escalates to stealing money and ditching school, Trace realizes some secrets cannot be kept if we ever hope to heal.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

08/02/2021

In effective verse, Hopkins (Closer to Nowhere) tells an honest and moving portrait of a family in flux as they navigate newfound emotional and physical distance. In Las Vegas, 12-year-old STEM geek and baseball pitcher Trace Reynolds, who is of Puerto Rican and French descent, has always been close to his brother Will, but 17 months after Will experiences a traumatic brain injury during a football game, which results in cranial nerve damage and a facial tic, Trace feels overlooked and unheard. Their parents have divorced following the incident, the siblings’ mother has embarked on an endless tour with her band, and their father is focused on work and a new relationship. When 17-year-old Will begins acting uncharacteristically, showing symptoms of depression and uncontrollable anger after his injury, only Trace seems to notice his stealing money, lying, and, most concerningly, suddenly taking new pills. Will’s affirming friendships, like that with teammate Catalina Sánchez, who is intimately familiar with the impact of substance abuse, highlight the importance of community support when navigating trauma and addiction. Hopkins tenderly portrays a younger brother learning to advocate for himself and those he loves by speaking up and asking for help. Ages 10–up. Agent: Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary. (Sept.)

From the Publisher

Praise for What About Will:
A 2022-2023 Great Lakes Great Books Nominee (MI)
A 2022-2023 Camellia Children’s Choice Book Award Nominee (AL)
A 2022 Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year
A 2022 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Pick

“Heartfelt novel in verse.” —Forbes

★ “Hopkins’s heartrending novel in verse evocatively conveys Trace’s attempts to call attention to Will’s dangerous behavior and his yearning to “fix” his broken family. Standout supporting characters include Mr. Cobb, Trace’s Vietnam veteran neighbor, and Catalina, a new girl on his baseball team. . . the verse format suits Trace’s first-person narrative; its brevity cuts to the heart of Trace’s raw feelings of isolation and powerlessness. . .  A realistic, emotionally charged portrait of a family divided and their fragile steps toward a shared future. Recommended for middle grade collections.”—School Library Journal, starred review

“Written in her recognizable free-verse style, Hopkins conveys the raw and realistic emotions of a broken family. The book covers multiple tough subjects . . . in a manner that is digestible for a younger audience. What about Will is a story about family, love, loss, hope, and understanding that you don’t have to go through hardships alone.” —Booklist

“The fears of stable, straight-arrow athlete Trace are clarified in lovely sparks of concrete poetry among Hopkins’ free verse, as he learns to tell adults when he sees his beloved brother acting dangerously. Compassionate optimism for a boy who can’t control the chaos around him.” —Kirkus Reviews

“In effective verse, Hopkins (Closer to Nowhere) tells an honest and moving portrait of a family in flux as they navigate newfound emotional and physical distance…Hopkins tenderly portrays a younger brother learning to advocate for himself and those he loves by speaking up and asking for help.” —Publishers Weekly

“A gentle, but honest, look at depression and addiction that also models positive responses and community support. For fans of Ghost by Jason Reynolds and Before the Ever After by Jaqueline Woodson, What About Will is important and moving.” —YALSA, on audiobook edition


Praise for Closer to Nowhere:
A 2022-2023 Truman Readers Book Award Nominee (MO)
A 2022-2023 South Carolina Book Award Nominee
A 2021 Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year
A 2021 NCTE Notable Novel in Verse
An Amazon Best Book of the Month

★ “Readers will root for these realistic characters, and will cheer for the growth they experience. Highly recommended.” —School Library Journal, starred review

“Hopkins’ use of free verse provides a canvas for sure-handed, brush-stroke development of the backstory and plot and emotional investment and identification with the characters. . . Compassionate and compelling.” —Kirkus Reviews

“There’s a new crowd of Ellen Hopkins fans on the horizon! Hopkins tackles tough subjects with honesty and compassion, woven in brilliant verse as always, now in a novel for younger readers. This beautifully written book about the strength of family shows us that even someone who doesn’t feel at home anywhere can find a place to belong.” —Lynne Kelly, author of the Schneider Family Book Award–winning Song for a Whale

“Hopkins uses her familiar verse to take readers on an emotional rollercoaster. . . The author’s note about her own family experiences with addiction and behavioral challenges is almost as poignant as the text, and the quick pace makes it easy to devour, enticing fans to check out the rest of Hopkins’ oeuvre.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

School Library Journal

★ 10/22/2021

Gr 5 Up—Twelve-year-old Trace's family is shattered when beloved older brother Will suffers a traumatic brain injury during a high school football game. His parents divorce and his mother leaves town, while his father works constantly. Will, struggling with pain and depression, takes up with a rough crowd and starts stealing from Trace. Hopkins's heartrending novel in verse evocatively conveys Trace's attempts to call attention to Will's dangerous behavior and his yearning to "fix" his broken family. Standout supporting characters include Mr. Cobb, Trace's Vietnam veteran neighbor, and Catalina, a new girl on his baseball team. They help Trace come to terms with how he can—or cannot—help those closest to him. Details of Will's struggle with opioid addiction provide warning signs that readers can use in their own lives. The verse format suits Trace's first-person narrative; its brevity cuts to the heart of Trace's raw feelings of isolation and powerlessness. Trace is described as having his Puerto Rican father's "curly brown hair and speckled eyes," while Will has "sun-toasted skin and black hair." VERDICT A realistic, emotionally charged portrait of a family divided and their fragile steps toward a shared future. Recommended for middle grade collections.—Marybeth Kozikowski, Sachem P.L., Holbrook, NY

Kirkus Reviews

2021-09-01
What can a good kid do when his big brother starts being a problem?

Twelve-year-old Trace Reynolds, who is White and Puerto Rican, wants to get noticed for the right reasons: good grades, Little League, pulling weeds for Mr. Cobb next door. Seventeen-year-old Will used to be the best brother, but now he’s so angry. He’s played football since he was a little kid and has been tackled plenty; when he gets horrifically hurt in a JV game, it’s just one too many head injuries. It’s been a year and a half since Will’s traumatic brain injury, and he’s got a hair-trigger temper. He has chronic headaches, depression, and muscle spasms that prevent him from smiling. Trace knows it’s rotten for Will, but still, why did his awesome brother have to give up all his cool friends? Now he argues with their dad, hangs out with losers—and steals Trace’s stuff. At least Trace has a friend in Catalina Sánchez, the new girl on Little League. Her dad’s a retired major leaguer, and she has sibling problems too. Observations from Trace frame Cat as praiseworthy by virtue of her not being like the other girls, a mindset that conveys misogynistic overtones. The fears of stable, straight-arrow athlete Trace are clarified in lovely sparks of concrete poetry among Hopkins’ free verse, as he learns to tell adults when he sees his beloved brother acting dangerously.

Compassionate optimism for a boy who can’t control the chaos around him. (author's note) (Verse novel. 9-13)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173164179
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	09/14/2021
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	10 - 13 Years

Read an Excerpt

My Big Brother
Always had a short fuse but now it’s permanently lit.
 
Okay, it was never hard to set Will off.
 
It used to be a game
I played, mostly just for kicks.
It was funny, watching the blood throb in his temples.
 
But sometimes,
when trouble was staring at me and I wanted to aim it in a different direction,
I’d rile Will up until he blew.
 
Then, when Mom or Dad started griping about my behavior,
I’d point at my brother,
all red-faced and cussing,
and ask, “What about Will?”
 
I never thought
I’d get sick of that question.

 
Check It Out
It’s been a long time since I’ve said it straight to my brother’s face,
but I love him, wicked bad temper and all.
 
We used to be best-
friend brothers.
 
Will’s seventeen, which makes him five years older, and I’ve always looked up to him.
 
Mostly because he never looked down on me.
 
When I was like four, and most other kids still rode tricycles,
Will took the training wheels off my little blue bike and taught me to ride it.
 
You can’t keep up on four wheels, Trace, he said.
 
Even on two, it took a while,
but eventually, I did.
At least, I came close.

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