Read this before the year is out...

Edward’s Eyes
By Patricia MacLachlan
Atheneum, 2007

Edward is the perfect kid and Patricia MacLachlan is the perfect writer to tell his story. This story feels so real and so true. But it’s fiction.

Edward is part of a loving family. The family is big and it is about to get bigger with Edward’s mom expecting another baby. Edward loves to play baseball and is really good at it. Edward loves to speak French and can’t wait to teach French to the new baby. Most important of all, Edward has the most beautiful eyes imaginable. The entire book is set up to introduce you to Edward, make you love Edward, make you imagine you are looking into Edward’s eyes, make you feel like Edward was your brother, and then to let Edward die.

I knew that Edward was going to die, but I just couldn’t quite grasp it, until he did. His family donates his organs and his corneas so that part of him will live on and help someone who really needs it.

The prologue gives you the ending first, but it all doesn’t make sense until the end.

This is one of my favorite novels of the year. Simply, quiet, beautiful, sad. MacLachlan tells a story like no other.