Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

In the end, the end of a life only matters to friends, family, and other folks you used to know ... for everyone else, it's just another end. from page six of Elsewhere

In this young adult novel, fifteen year old Liz dies after being hit by a car on Earth; she awakens on a cruise ship bound for Elsewhere, and she slowly realizes that death is more of an afterlife lived in a place similar to Earth called Elsewhere. This is the story of a teen adjusting to the end of her life as she knows it and to the beginning of a new life without her friends and family. The end of the novel, though certainly not the end of Liz's story, is heartbreakingly poignant.

Zevin writes beautifully; however, this novel is definitely for the tween and young adult set. I could easily tell that this was targeted for the younger reader from the juvenile tone of some sections of the book. There are some authors who write for younger readers whose novels the older, more sophisticated reader can also appreciate for the deeper levels of symbolism and metaphor that the author effortlessly, seamlessly, and subtly weaves throughout the novel. Unfortunately, Zevin's novel is not one of these.

This novel is available upon request from Lebanon Community Library, Myerstown Community Library, and Palmyra Public Library. I recommend this novel for middle school to high school level readers.

--Reviewed by Ms. Angie