“ A jellyfish, if you watch it long enough, begins to look like a heart beating. It doesn't matter what kind: the blood-red Atolla with its flashing siren lights, the frilly flower hat variety, or the near-transparent moon jelly, Aurelia aurita. It's their pulse, the way they contract swiftly, then release. Like a ghost heart - a heart you can see right through, right into some other world where everything you ever lost has gone to hide.”
Ali Benjamin, The Thing About Jellyfish
The Thing About Jellyfish is about a girl dealing with grief after her best friend drowned. Suzy and her best friend are in a painful estrangement when Suzy learns of her death. The shocking news leaves Suzy sad, angry, and, perhaps most of all, disbelieving. Convinced that her friend, a talented swimmer, could never have drowned, Suzy becomes obsessed with proving that a freak jellyfish sting was the true catalyst for her death. Readers will feel deeply for the determined Suzy and her struggle to cope with her grief and guilt. Subtle use of the scientific method and jellyfish research provide a fascinating element to this tender tale. Check it out and remember to grab a box of tissues because this is a tear-jerker!
Buy books mentioned in the article
-
Y
Ali Benjamin
The Thing About Jellyfish
Hardcover (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Sept. 22, 2015)