Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur

No. of pages: 262
Rating: 8/10

Synopsis: "I had everything I needed to run a household: a house, food, and a new family. From now on it would just be me and Sammy–the two of us, and no one else."

A tragic accident has turned eleven-year-old Aubrey’s world upside down. Starting a new life all alone, Aubrey has everything she thinks she needs: SpaghettiOs and Sammy, her new pet fish. She cannot talk about what happened to her. Writing letters is the only thing that feels right to Aubrey, even if no one ever reads them.
With the aid of her loving grandmother and new friends, Aubrey learns that she is not alone, and gradually, she finds the words to express feelings that once seemed impossible to describe. The healing powers of friendship, love, and memory help Aubrey take her first steps toward the future.

Review: After a terrible accident, eleven year old Aubrey loses her dad and her younger sister, so when one morning she wakes up and her mum has disappeared, she tries to convince herself she'll be back soon. But she doesn't come back, and so Aubrey tries to fend for herself to protect her mum so she won't get into trouble. Aubrey's gran soon realises something is wrong though, and when she arrives to find Aubrey alone, she decides to take Aubrey back to Vermont. There Aubrey is finally able to come to terms with all that's happened to her.

Straight off the bat, I have to warn that this book is so sad. Aubrey is only eleven, and already has had a massive amount of heartache in her life, and she's trying to pretend it didn't happen as a way to cope. As the book progresses, you follow Aubrey's journey first to acceptance, then past that as she tries to heal and find her place in the world after all that's happened to her and her family. The characters were great, I loved all of the main three - Aubrey, Aubrey's gran and Bridget, the friend she makes in Vermont. They all seemed very realistic, and I could understand how Aubrey wanted to protect her mum more than anything, even after she just abandoned her. I loved the ending, it ended how I hoped it would, and it was really quite touching. Although aimed for a younger YA audience, older kids and adults can definitely still enjoy it, and I would recommend it even though it's so bittersweet.