What I Leave Behind

ISBN-10: 1481476564
ISBN-13: 9781481476560
Author: McGhee, Alison
Interest Level: 9-12
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: May 2018

Copyright: 2018

Page Count: 208

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Hardcover
$14.24
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Interest Level

Grades 9-12

Reading Level

Lexile: HL550L
Accelerated Reader Level: 3.8
Accelerated Reader Points: 1.0

BISAC Subjects

YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Social Themes / Friendship *

YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Social Themes / Sexual Abuse *

Description
After his dad commits suicide, Will tries to overcome his own misery by secretly helping the people around him in this exquisitely crafted story made up of one hundred chapters of one hundred words each, by award-winning and bestselling author Alison McGhee. Sixteen-year-old Will spends most of his days the same way: Working at the Dollar Only store, trying to replicate his late father's famous cornbread recipe, and walking the streets of Los Angeles. Will started walking after his father committed suicide, and three years later he hasn't stopped. But there are some places Will can't walk by: The blessings store with the chest of 100 Chinese blessings in the back, the bridge on Fourth Street where his father died, and his childhood friend Playa's house. When Will learns Playa was raped at a party-a party he was at, where he saw Playa, and where he believes he could have stopped the worst from happening if he hadn't left early-it spurs Will to stop being complacent in his own sadness and do some good in the world. He begins to leave small gifts for everyone in his life, from Superman the homeless guy he passes on his way to work, to the Little Butterfly Dude he walks by on the way home, to Playa herself. And it is through those acts of kindness that Will is finally able to push past his own trauma and truly begin to live his life again.