The Ethan I Was Before

This book is really wonderful I enjoyed A LOT in fact, I or less breezed through it, that s how well told it is I imagine quite a lot of readers will like it Especially the ones who adore serious novels, because this one does deal with some serious subjects Is it a 4 or a 5 stars read for me It kinda feels perfect, but then there s a tiny tinge of perfect behavior that did rub me the wrong way once and again So for now, it s a 4 stars If it turns out to be one of the unforgettable ones, I will [...]

Southern Gothic children s literature Sounds crazy, no But as weird as it might sound it s a legitimate genre You may think it s all Flannery and Faulkner but kids have a delightful range to choose from Now usually such books are in the vein of Sheila Turnage and her Three Times Lucky series,Zora and Me by Victoria Bond and T.R Simon, and J.E Thompson sThe Girl from Felony Bay Which is to say, mysteries The Ethan I Was Before by the North Carolina born Ali Standish isn t a mystery in the traditi [...]

You remember that, whatever happens You are stronger than you know It takes a lot for a book to make me cry The Ethan I Was Before had me completely choking up What a gorgeous, gorgeous middle grade novel There is so much heart and love in this book It s one of those novels that you just know is going to be on a classics list, and is exactly the sort of book I would ve treasured as a kid And I probably would ve begged my parents for a pet wolf and a pet alligator Once you read the story, you ll [...]

Sometimes a story is all you haveSometimes that can be enough Trying to destroy hope is like trying to clean sand out of your beach bagThere s always going to be a grain or two left Memory, story, grief, compassion, family, friendship, how to move forward when the best and worst are in the past A moving, gripping book that will have you putting yourself in the place of Ethan, and all the characters The last sections are beautiful.

What I loved about this story is how all of the story strands are woven together at the end The ending really brought the entire book together and held a place in my heart.

This hauntingly beautiful debut novel by the prodigiously talented Standish takes as its starting point the unanswerable question what becomes of who you were before if you unwittingly do something tragic and irrevocable that divides your life forever into two parts, Before and After The portraits of Ethan, his currently estranged brother, previously estranged grandfather, troubled parents, and charismatic but unsettling new friend Coralee are brilliantly drawn Standish kept me turning pages in [...]

A heartbreaking, beautiful book of resilience, grief, and forgiveness amidst one boy s struggle with guilt To help him heal after the loss of his best friend, Ethan s family moves from Boston to Palm Knot, Georgia Specifically to his Grandpa s house Where getting along isn t always easy First time author Standish has crafted a winning, emotional debut You ll root for Ethan the whole way through.

Wow, wow, wow I loved this story Such a multi layer plot with multi dimensional characters Absolutely beautiful Ethan is a strong role model for our young people A must read

This book was a page turner filled with adventure, magic, and friendship while also dealing delicately with the subject of trauma More than anything, the story is gripping The dialogue feels natural and true to the characters personalities and their ages The author shows a talent for writing clearly and effectively on a sensitive topic and young readers will surely see the connection between the story and the tough situations present in their own lives This is a book that will help kids find the [...]

E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline Ethan and his family move from Boston to the south to live with his grandfather, who is elderly and having problems The family felt they needed to move because something horrible and undefined has happened to Ethan s best friend and neighbor, Kacey, and he was unable to move on His older brother is really miffed, and the grandfather has been dysfunctionally grieving his wife s death from breast cancer 30 years ago Ethan manages to make a new friend, Corale [...]

From the very first page, we are sucked into the mystery of what happened to Ethan Truitt s best friend Kacey and why it resulted in his parents moving themselves, him, and his older brother Roddie to a small town with Georgia to live with Grandpa Ike, who seems less than thrilled to have them there Ethan is a haunted, broken boy, and his heartbreak makes the reader s heart break Nothing his family does seems to bring him out of his depression and guilt, but a small spitfire named Coralee, may b [...]

When I saw this book at the bookstore, I was intrigued by it because of its cover I passed it by only to regret it later when I saw my Twitter friends post rave reviews of this book This is my 4th 2017 middle grade book to read and is my favorite 2017 middle grade read thus far The theme to this book is friendship Ethan is a lucky boy Although he lost one friend through a tragic accident, he finds true friendship again when his family moves to a new town Love it.

This book has been the best book I ve read so far in 2017 It has a great central story about how tragedy can change a person but the twists turns of the subplots wouldn t let me put this one down I also enjoyed seeing a MG novel with a strong yet sensitive male main character Perfect for middle grade readers Readers who loved Swing Sideways, The Thing about Jelly Just My Luck will be drawn to Ethan s story

Wow This book is wonderful It has an emotional story and is written with such skill and beauty I can see pulling this book apart and using it many times over as a mentor text I HIGHLY recommend this book to 10 year olds on up This book will no doubt end up in our Mock Newbery club next year.

A sweet, beautifully written story about grief, family, and friendship, this is a perfect book to give fans of Lisa Graff s Lost in the Sun.

This was so, so good Definite recommend.Ethan is not the same person he was before Kacey Not even close He keeps trying to run away, but his family always stops him He thinks that if he could just get back to her, just one time, things might be different But they won t Because he s pretty sure he killed her.His family moves away from Boston, and relocates in Georgia to move in with his estranged grandfather Once there, Ethan meets Coralee and begins to wonder if he can in fact move on If he doe [...]

Beautifully written, engaging plot, and well developed characters The slightly depressing theme that never let up made it an A minus for me Interweaving light hearted or humorous scenes would have made it a 5 star read for this age group, in my opinion.

A perfect middle grade novel that s chock full of everything you want a middle grader to experience friendships, family strife, guilt a lot of guilt, and natural disasters I also loved the sense of place.

Ethan Truitt, 12, and his best friend Kacey Reid used to have all kinds of adventures together, until one night Ethan dares Kacey to do something and, though it ends in a tragic accident, Ethan can t help but blame himself for causing it Now, his parents are moving from Boston to Palm Knot, a coastal town in Georgia, using the excuse that they need to take care of his elderly grandfather, but in reality, Ethan knows it is an attempt to help him come to terms with his overwhelming grief and his a [...]

Can you please read that as 3.5 stars A solid 3.5.Ethan used to have this amazing friend Kacey and they were a fearless, uncompromising duo But that was before the accident Since the accident, Ethan isn t really sure who he is He s had so much trouble dealing with what happened that his family has decided to pick up and move to a tiny town in Georgia The line is that they are there to take care of his grandfather, but everyone especially Ethan knows that it is because of him and his three attemp [...]

Take two young teens from different parts of the country Mix in plenty of guilt, several dashes of denial, a mystery or two, a rescue, some other young teens who are not so nice, an angry brother, scared parents and a hurricane Mix well and pour into book form Meet Ethan and Coralee He s just moved from Boston to a coastal Georgia town with his family after a tragic accident involving his best friend Kacey that left him so distraught, his parents felt they had no alternative Despite the move, Et [...]

This book broke my heart and put it back together again I wanted to stay lost in the pages with Ethan, Kacey and Coralee forever Standish is a fantastic story teller and her characters are so vivid and memorable they make the story a pure delight to read, even when dealing with a tough topic like grief THE ETHAN I WAS BEFORE is perfect for fans of BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA or THE THING ABOUT JELLYFISH Like TERABITHIA the location of the novel becomes another character, so rich and full it s impossibl [...]

Overall, I liked this, but there were a few clunky parts and when I got to the end I felt like I d read this story before e.g Lost in the Sun, Bridge to Terabithia I think the first half is stronger than the second half because Standish is good at building suspense for the reader Why does Ethan feel guilty What happened to Kasey It truly reads like a good mystery, even though it s pretty obvious where it s going The second half sort of falls into cliche ville Still, overall, it s a solid book wi [...]

It s impossible to say how much I loved this book Every word is perfectly chosen and perfectly placed The story is one that will last and last, and the characters feel like I ve known them all my life To say Ethan has changed me is the honest truth It is a story I ll cherish Beautifully written, it is honest, heartbreaking and ultimately full of hope, as every story should be A real must read.

Oh, Ethan Sigh Hug.This book has all kinds of fantastic storytelling going for it It pulls at your heart strings with a weighty issue, but leaves enough room for the reader to wonder, discover, and grow right along with the characters This story will stay with you for a long time Charming deep very well done.

Guilt, grief, family relationships and secrets, all interwoven seamlessly through the characters in this middle grade novel Excellent.

Out of all the books I have read this year for my book group s Mock Newbery Award meeting, this is the book I choose as the winner, hands down Ethan is such a relatable character for anyone but most importantly for anyone who has suffered through a tragic loss We see him progress through the stages of grief in such a natural and real manner, that he feels like a close friend and a confidant The book is easy to get into, drawing us in under the guise of a mysterious incident that has clearly chan [...]

A lovely book for younger readers, which tackles some fairly hard hitting themes.When we first meet Ethan he is a rather lost soul Feeling desperately guilty as he thinks he caused his best friend s accident, Ethan and his family have moved across country to have a fresh start Initially we are told little detail, but the family are clearly finding it hard to live with unresolved tensions They circle each other, desperately unhappy, but never quite certain how to move things on.When Ethan is befr [...]

Ethan must deal with an accidental incident that forces his family to move from Boston to Palm Knot, Georgia to live There he meets Coralee who has a secret of her own to deal with and they become friends Together they learn to deal with their problems in a realistic manner This novel is sure to be a winner Written with the middle schooler in mind, the conflicts are realistically portrayed with compassion Readers will commiserate with Ethan as he struggles to become a new person in spite of the [...]

Emotionally, the book feels like it starts up where Bridge to Terabithia ends Right from the get go Ethan is dealing with the loss of his best friend Kacey We don t know a lot about what happened to her at first We are just thrown into an emotional roller coaster.The family moves out of Boston to live with his mother s estranged father in a small town in Georgia Ethan and his brother Roddy manage to bond with their grandfather, but there is a lot of friction between him and their mother To add t [...]