Not Nothing
Four starred reviews!
“The book we all need at the time we all need it.” -Katherine Applegate, Newbery Award-winning author of The One and Only Ivan

In this “tale of intergenerational friendship forged through a shared understanding of loss...told with spellbinding grace” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) from #1 New York Times bestselling author Gayle Forman, a boy assigned to spend his summer volunteering at a senior living facility learns unexpected lessons.

Alex is twelve, and he did something very, very bad. A judge sentences him to spend his summer volunteering at a retirement home where he's bossed around by an annoying and self-important do-gooder named Maya-Jade. He hasn't seen his mom in a year, his aunt and uncle don't want him, and Shady Glen's geriatric residents seem like zombies to him.

Josey is 107 and ready for his life to be over. He has evaded death many times, having survived ghettos, dragnets, and a concentration camp-all thanks to the heroism of a woman named Olka and his own ability to sew. But now he spends his days in room 206 at Shady Glen, refusing to speak and waiting (and waiting and waiting) to die. Until Alex knocks on Josey's door...and Josey begins to tell Alex his story.

As Alex comes back again and again to hear more, an unlikely bond grows between them. Soon a new possibility opens up for Alex: Can he rise to the occasion of his life, even if it means confronting the worst thing that he's ever done?
1144787465
Not Nothing
Four starred reviews!
“The book we all need at the time we all need it.” -Katherine Applegate, Newbery Award-winning author of The One and Only Ivan

In this “tale of intergenerational friendship forged through a shared understanding of loss...told with spellbinding grace” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) from #1 New York Times bestselling author Gayle Forman, a boy assigned to spend his summer volunteering at a senior living facility learns unexpected lessons.

Alex is twelve, and he did something very, very bad. A judge sentences him to spend his summer volunteering at a retirement home where he's bossed around by an annoying and self-important do-gooder named Maya-Jade. He hasn't seen his mom in a year, his aunt and uncle don't want him, and Shady Glen's geriatric residents seem like zombies to him.

Josey is 107 and ready for his life to be over. He has evaded death many times, having survived ghettos, dragnets, and a concentration camp-all thanks to the heroism of a woman named Olka and his own ability to sew. But now he spends his days in room 206 at Shady Glen, refusing to speak and waiting (and waiting and waiting) to die. Until Alex knocks on Josey's door...and Josey begins to tell Alex his story.

As Alex comes back again and again to hear more, an unlikely bond grows between them. Soon a new possibility opens up for Alex: Can he rise to the occasion of his life, even if it means confronting the worst thing that he's ever done?
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Not Nothing

Not Nothing

by Gayle Forman

Narrated by Dion Graham, Gayle Forman

Unabridged — 6 hours, 17 minutes

Not Nothing

Not Nothing

by Gayle Forman

Narrated by Dion Graham, Gayle Forman

Unabridged — 6 hours, 17 minutes

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Overview

Four starred reviews!
“The book we all need at the time we all need it.” -Katherine Applegate, Newbery Award-winning author of The One and Only Ivan

In this “tale of intergenerational friendship forged through a shared understanding of loss...told with spellbinding grace” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) from #1 New York Times bestselling author Gayle Forman, a boy assigned to spend his summer volunteering at a senior living facility learns unexpected lessons.

Alex is twelve, and he did something very, very bad. A judge sentences him to spend his summer volunteering at a retirement home where he's bossed around by an annoying and self-important do-gooder named Maya-Jade. He hasn't seen his mom in a year, his aunt and uncle don't want him, and Shady Glen's geriatric residents seem like zombies to him.

Josey is 107 and ready for his life to be over. He has evaded death many times, having survived ghettos, dragnets, and a concentration camp-all thanks to the heroism of a woman named Olka and his own ability to sew. But now he spends his days in room 206 at Shady Glen, refusing to speak and waiting (and waiting and waiting) to die. Until Alex knocks on Josey's door...and Josey begins to tell Alex his story.

As Alex comes back again and again to hear more, an unlikely bond grows between them. Soon a new possibility opens up for Alex: Can he rise to the occasion of his life, even if it means confronting the worst thing that he's ever done?

Editorial Reviews

bestselling author of Newbery Honor Book The Inqui Adam Gidwitz

Not Nothing is a masterpiece. It has so many feelings and moral conundrums and ultra-urgent themes—it should be a community-wide read all over the country. Timely, funny, perfect.

The Horn Book

"Forman crafts a unique story, told in the voice of a wiser, older character; everything feels close and personal, from Alex’s present to Jozef’s past. She captures the quietly powerful moments of feeling seen and known, how friendships can make a bleak life feel fresh with possibilities, and how a person’s worst moments need not shape their future."

starred review Booklist

* "Forman is a master of the slow, heart-wrenching reveal . . . those who stick with this story will be richly rewarded."

starred review Publishers Weekly

* "This tale of intergenerational friendship forged through a shared understanding of loss by Forman (Frankie and Bug) is told with spellbinding grace and wrought with exquisite structuring that quietly highlights the heartrending parallels between Josey’s WWII remembrances and Alex’s current struggles."

author of Carnegie Medal-winning Salt to the Sea a Ruta Sepetys

Tenderly layered and beautifully constructed. Forman weaves an intensely moving portrait of stories separated by generations but inextricably connected by the experience of having known love and lost it.

Newbery Award-winning author of The One and Only I Katherine Applegate

This stunning, masterfully told story of compassion, forgiveness, and joy is the book we all need at the time we all need it. Profound, heart-healing, and life-changing.

Elana Arnold

"Not Nothing is a luminous gift, a story that respects and acknowledges the complexity of the human experience—and, by extension, the complexity of its readers. I loved it."

starred review Kirkus Reviews

* "Powerful, heartbreaking, and hopeful."

R. J. Palacio

Not Nothing is a beautifully-written, poignant, life-affirming gem about ordinary people doing extraordinary things during unimaginable times. Ultimately, it’s a story about stories, those spoken memories handed down from generation to generation that inspire us all to ‘rise to the occasion of our lives’. Bravo, Gayle Forman!

starred review School Library Journal

* "A touching story of hope and resilience. . . . Powerful."

Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Forman interweaves the tales carefully, with striking language and depth of feeling…Powerful, heartbreaking, and hopeful.”

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

This tale of intergenerational friendship forged through a shared understanding of loss by Forman is told with spellbinding grace.”

AudioFile

Dion Graham’s masterful narration clarifies this novel’s shifts in point of view and vividly defines its main characters…Gayle Forman reads the author’s note…Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”

Booklist (starred review)

Forman is a master of the slow, heart-wrenching reveal…Those who stick with this story will be richly rewarded.”

award-winning author of Torpedoed: The Tr Deborah Heiligman

It’s not nothing when a story grabs you from the first line and keeps you turning pages until the last. It’s not nothing when a story (two actually) makes you laugh, cry, worry, wonder, and cry again. It’s not nothing when a book captures your heart, expands your mind, and stays with you long after you’ve reluctantly read the last word.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of —Sarah Mlynowski

Beautiful, heart-wrenching, and impossible to put down, Not Nothing is a story about the power of love, hope, and forgiveness.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of   —Sarah Mlynowski

Beautiful, heart-wrenching, and impossible to put down, Not Nothing is a story about the power of love, hope, and forgiveness.

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2024-05-04
The boy “did something bad. Truly bad.”

A 107-year-old narrator speaks directly to someone named Olka, saying the stories in the book are about “me and you” as well as the boy, Alex (who presents white). What follows is an intense dual narrative that moves between the speaker’s tragic life during the Holocaust and contemporary 12-year-old Alex’s tale of loss and its aftermath. Alex’s mother has disappeared, and he lives with an aunt and uncle who don’t want him. His resentment, self-loathing, and all-consuming anger cause him to commit a violent act, “the Incident,” for which he’s arrested. His social worker arranges community service at Shady Glen Retirement Home, where he meets the narrator, Joseph “Josey” Kravitz, who keeps to himself and hasn’t spoken in five years. But he’s drawn to Alex and decides to share his story. When Alex’s terrible Incident is finally disclosed, readers will grasp its gravity. Both storylines are filled with misunderstandings, tragedy, horrible acts of hatred, and selfless acts of bravery, which affect the protagonists in profound ways. As they realize that they have much in common, both Alex and Josey learn they can “rise to the occasion of [their] lives.” Best-selling award winner Forman interweaves the tales carefully, with striking language and depth of feeling, allowing readers to understand the characters’ changing perspectives as they learn more about themselves and open up to people around them, many of whom become advocates and friends.

Powerful, heartbreaking, and hopeful. (author’s note, bibliography, further reading) (Fiction. 10-14)

Product Details

BN ID: 2940191802688
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: 08/27/2024
Edition description: Unabridged
Age Range: 10 - 13 Years

Read an Excerpt

Let Me Tell You a Story

LET ME TELL YOU A STORY
Actually, it’s two stories, one you will recognize and one you won’t.

One is about me and you. The other is about the boy. But it’s also about me. And about you.

I know. I’m not making sense. I’m 107 years old. It goes with the territory. Forgive me my meanderings.

Before I start, I want to make it clear. He did something bad. Truly bad. I don’t want you to think I’m sidestepping that, or excusing it, or even forgiving it; it’s not for me to forgive, anyhow.

But I’m telling you the story so you understand how he got where he did and how I got where I did and how both of us learned to rise to the occasion of our lives.

Did that get your attention, Olka?

I thought it might.

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