The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle

Title: The Beginning of After
Author: Jennifer Castle
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication Date: 9-6-2011
Pages: 432
Challenge: Debut Author's Challenge
Source: ARC EBook from NetGallery


Summary from Good Reads:
Sixteen-year-old Laurel's world changes instantly when her parents and brother are killed in a terrible car accident. Behind the wheel is the father of her bad-boy neighbor, David Kaufman, whose mother is also killed. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Laurel navigates a new reality in which she and her best friend grow apart, boys may or may not be approaching her out of pity, overpowering memories lurk everywhere, and Mr. Kaufman is comatose but still very much alive. Through it all, there is David, who swoops in and out of Laurel's life and to whom she finds herself attracted against her better judgment. She will forever be connected to him by their mutual loss, a connection that will change them both in unexpected ways.

Fans of emotionally true and heartfelt stories, such as Sarah Dessen's THE TRUTH ABOUT FOREVER and IF I STAY by Gayle Forman, will fall in love with Jennifer Castle’s incandescent debut novel...a heart wrenching, surprisingly witty testament to how drastically life can change in the span of a single moment.

My thoughts:

I really enjoyed this title and know it will be a hit with my students.  One of the books on our 2010 summer reading list was If I Stay and this book will appeal to students who enjoyed that title.  I liked that Laurel, the main character, is so realistic in how she handles her grief-- it seemed very realistic and is very moving.  I could not put this book down and read it very quickly-- always a good sign! 

This is Jennifer Castle's debut novel and I felt that she did a great job of hooking the reader emotionally.  So many YA books deal with death but this novel focuses mostly on how Laurel slowly begins to live in the after of such a life changing tragedy.  Laurel struggles with such normal things as college applications and her first prom as she struggles to define herself without her parents.  I also really liked how Castle handled the grandmother "Nana"/guardian in this novel.  While the novel does not focus on this adult character, the reader still glimpes how Nana is also grieving and making sacrifices for the sake of Laurel.

There is some romance in this novel as Laurel has two guys that are interested in her.  I like how Castle does not allow a guy to fix Laurel though.  I would like to have learned more about David, the son of the driver in the accident whose mother died.  He does not seem to have anywhere near the support that Laurel does and he ultimately reaches out to Laurel.

Overall this is a good read that I am sure will be popular.