Ships from: West Palm Beach, FL
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: West Islip, NY
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: Des Moines, IA
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: Skokie, IL
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: Simi Valley, CA
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: Simi Valley, CA
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: Prospect, CT
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: manhattan beach, CA
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: Appleton, WI
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Want a NOOK? Explore Now
"Before I liked to write, I liked to type. I remember visiting my grandmother Adele in Ponce Inlet, Florida, when I was three years old, and she had an IBM electric typewriter. I thought that this electric typewriter was about the most fascinating toy in the world -- I liked the little bell and the sounds and the feel of the keys and especially the erase key. Grandma Adele would set me up with plenty of paper and I'd be entertained for hours. I would type pages and pages, mainly nonsense, but sometimes my name or lists of words I knew. I can't remember when the nonsense changed into something more organized and storylike, it just did. (Will the monkey eventually type Shakespeare? Not yet.) The first stories I wrote were autobiographies, because, at that age, I found myself a most intriguing subject. Still, the autobiographies were largely fictionalized. I'd sometimes leave space for illustrations and sew the pages together when I was done. And for many years, this was the extent of my fiction career.
"When I was around eight, I learned how to touch-type at school, and I received a computer as a present. I started writing plays, and for many years I thought I would be a playwright. Over the years, I had studiously managed to write everything but novels -- I had been a copious pen pal, a first-class transcriptionist, a professional screenwriter (still am, actually), a teen music reviewer, a mediocre research-paper writer, and, of course, a writer of plays. So, although I was not writing novels, I was always writing something. Actually, I hadn't ever felt any particular calling to be a novelist, and I clearly remember telling a friend of mine about six months before I started work on Elsewhere that I would NEVER write a novel. And then I thought of the idea for Elsewhere, which did not seem to want to be a play or a screenplay. It kept sounding awfully novelish in my head, and though I was a little scared, I just sat in front of my computer and started to type. So it was fortunate that I liked typing, because I would be typing Liz's story for many a moon. Although I still write screenplays, I've written two other novels since writing Elsewhere. And I'm happy to report that I still like the sound of the keys."
Gabrielle Zevin has had several screenplays optioned by film studios. Gabrielle is a 2000 graduate of Harvard with a degree in English and American literature. She was born in New York and lives there still with one pug dog, Mrs. DeWinter, and her partner of ten years, director Hans Canosa.
Author biography courtesy of Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
"I don't believe in writer's block."
"I own a pug dog, like the one in Elsewhere."
"My first novel, Elsewhere, was actually published three months after my second novel, Margarettown."
"For me, writing about the afterlife was really a way to discuss the important things about this life."
"I wish that the adults who are 'in power' cared more about what their children read. Books are incredibly powerful when we are young -- the books I read as a child have stayed with me my entire life -- and yet, the people who write about books, for the most part, completely ignore children's literature."
"One of my favorite book quotes is from The Unbearable Lightness of Being: 'We can never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come.' "
Welcome to Elsewhere
"We're here!" Thandi is looking out the upper porthole when Liz enters the cabin. She jumps down from the top bunk and throws her solid arms around Liz, spinning her around the cabin until both girls are out of breath.
Liz sits down and gasps for air. "How can you be so happy when we're...?" Her voice trails off.
"Dead?" Thandi smiles a little. "So you finally figured it out."
"I just got back from my funeral, but I think I sort of knew before."
Thandi nods solemnly. "It takes as long as it takes," she says. "My funeral was awful, thanks for asking. They had me made up like a clown. I can't even talk about what they did to my hair." Thandi lifts up her braids. In the mirror, she examines the hole in the back of her head. "It's definitely getting smaller," she decides before lowering her braids.
"Aren't you at all sad?" Liz asks.
"No point in being sad that I can see. I can't change anything. And I'm tired of being in this little room, Liz, no offense."
An announcement comes over the ship's PA system: "This is your captain speaking. I hope you've enjoyed your passage. On behalf of the crew of the SS Nile, welcome to Elsewhere. The local temperature is 67 degrees with partly sunny skies and a westerly breeze. The local time is 3:48 p.m. All passagers must now disembark. This is the last and only stop."
"Don't you wonder what it's like out there?" Liz asks.
"The captain just said. It's warm with a breeze."
"No, not the weather. I meant, everything else."
"Not really. It is what it is, and all the wondering in the world isn't gonna change it." Thandi holds out her hand to help Liz off the bed. "You coming?"
Liz shakes her head. "The ship's probably super crowded. I think I'll wait here a bit, just until the halls clear out."
Thandi sits next to Liz on the bed. "I'm in no particular rush."
"No, you go on ahead," says Liz. "I want to be by myself."
Thandi looks into Liz's eyes. "Don't you stay in here forever."
"I won't. I promise."
Thandi nods. She is almost out the door when Liz calls out to her, "Why do you think they put us together anyway?"
"Beats me." Thandi shrugs. "We were probably the only two sixteen-year-old girls who died of acute head traumas that day."
"I'm fifteen," Liz reminds her.
"Guess that was the best they could do." Thandi pulls Liz into a hug. "It was certainly nice meeting you, Liz. Maybe I'll see you again someday."
Liz wants to say something to acknowledge the profound experience that she and Thandi have just shared, but she can't find the right words. "Yeah, see you," Liz replies.
As Thandi closes the door, Liz has the impulse to call out and ask her to stay. Thandi is now her only friend, except for Curtis Jest. (And Liz isn't even sure if she can count Curtis Jest a friend.) With Thandi gone, Liz feels more alone and wretched than she has ever felt before.
Liz lies down on the bottom bunk. All around her, she can hear the sounds of people leaving their cabins and walking through the ship's halls. Liz decides to wait until she can't hear any more people and only then will she venture from her cabin. In between doors opening and closing, she listens to snippets of conversation.
A man says, "It's a little embarrassing to only have these nightgowns to wear..."
And a woman, "I hope there's a decent hotel..."
And another woman, "Do you think I'll see Hubie there? Oh, how I have missed him!"
Liz wonders who "Hubie" is. She guesses he is probably dead like all the people on the Nile, dead like she is. Maybe being dead isn't so bad if you are really old, she thinks, because, as far as she can tell, most dead people are really old. So the chance of meeting new people your own age is quite good. And all the other dead people you knew from before you died might even be in the new place, Elsewhere, or whatever it was called. And maybe if you got old enough, you'd know more dead people than live ones, so dying would be a good thing, or at least wouldn't be so bad. As Liz sees it, for the aged, death isn't much different than retiring to Florida.
But Liz is fifteen (almost sixteen), and she doesn't personally know any dead people. Except for herself and the people on the trip, of course. To Liz, the prospect of being dead seems terribly lonely.
On the drive over to the Elsewhere pier, Betty Bloom, a woman prone to talking to herself, remarks, "I wish I had met Elizabeth even once. Then I could say, 'Remember that time we met?' As it is, I have to say, 'I'm your grandmother. We never met, on account of my untimely death from breast cancer.' And frankly, cancer is no way to begin a conversation. In fact, I think it might be better not to mention cancer at all. Suffice it to say, I died. At the very least, we both have that in common." Betty sighs. A car honks at her. Instead of speeding up, Betty smiles, waves, and allows the car to pass. "Yes, I am perfectly content to be driving at the speed I'm driving. If you wish to go faster, by all means go," she adds.
"I do wish I had more time to prepare for Elizabeth's arrival. It's odd to think of myself as someone's grandmother, and I don't feel very grandmotherly at all. I dislike baking, all cooking actually, and doilies and housecoats. And although I like children very much, I'm not very good with them, I'm afraid.
"For Olivia's sake, I promise not to be strict or judgmental. And I promise not to treat Elizabeth like a child. And I promise to treat her like an equal. And I promise to be supportive. And I won't ask too many questions. In return, I hope she'll like me a little bit, despite anything Olivia may have told her." For a moment, Betty falls silent and wonders how Olivia, her only child, is doing. Arriving at the pier, Betty checks her reflection in the rearview mirror and is surprised by what she sees. "Not quite old, not quite young. Very strange, indeed."
An hour passes. And then another. The halls grow quiet and then silent. Liz begins to hatch a plan. Maybe she could just be a stowaway? Eventually the boat would have to make a return trip, right? And if Liz just stays on it, maybe she could simply return to her old life. Maybe it's really that easy, Liz thinks. Maybe when she heard stories of people who had had near-death experiences, people who had flatlined and then come back, those "lucky" people were not lucky at all. They were the ones who knew enough to stay on the boat.
Liz imagines her homecoming. Everyone will say, "It's a miracle!" All the newspapers will cover it: LOCAL GIRL BACK FROM DEAD; CLAIMS DEATH IS CRUISE, NOT WHITE LIGHT, TUNNEL. Liz will get a book deal (Dead Girl by Liz Hall) and a TV movie (Determined to Live: The Elizabeth M. Hall Story) and an appearance on Oprah to promote both.
Liz sees the doorknob move, and the door begins to open. Without really thinking about it, she hides under the bed. From her position, she can see a boy of around her brother's age, dressed in a white captain's costume with gold epaulets and a matching captain's hat. He sits himself on the lower bunk and appears to take no notice of Liz.
The boy's only movement is the slight swinging of his legs. Liz notices that his feet barely reach the floor. She has a perfect view of the soles of his shoes. Someone has written L on the left one and R on the right one in black marker.
After a few minutes, the boy speaks. "I was waiting for you to introduce yourself," he says with an unusually mature voice for a child, "but I don't have all day."
Liz doesn't answer.
"I am the Captain," the boy says, "and you are not supposed to be in here."
Liz still doesn't answer. She holds her breath and tries not to make a single sound.
"Yes, girl under the bed. The Captain is speaking to you."
"The Captain of what?" Liz whispers.
"The Captain of the SS Nile, of course."
"You look a little young to be the captain."
"I assure you my experience and qualifications are exemplary. I have been the Captain for nearly one hundred years."
What a comedian, Liz thinks. "How old are you?"
"I am seven," the Captain says with dignity.
"Isn't seven a bit young to be a captain?"
The Captain nods his head. "Yes," he concedes, "I must now take naps in the afternoon. I will probably retire next year."
"I want to make the return trip," Liz says.
"These boats only go one way."
Liz peers out from under the bed. "That doesn't make sense. They have to get back somehow."
"I don't make the rules," says the Captain.
"What rules? I'm dead."
"If you think your death gives you free rein to act as you please, you are wrong," says the Captain. "Dead wrong," he adds a moment later. He laughs at his bad pun and then abruptly stops. "Let's suspend disbelief for a moment, and say you managed to take this boat back to Earth. What do you think would happen?"
Liz pulls herself out from under the bed. "I suppose I'd go back to my old life, right?"
The Captain shakes his head. "No. You wouldn't have a body to go back to. You'd be a ghost."
"Well, maybe that wouldn't be so bad."
"Trust me. I know people who've tried, and it's no kind of life. You end up crazy, and everyone you love ends up crazy, too. Take a piece of advice: get off the boat."
Liz's eyes are welling up with tears again. Dying certainly makes a person weepy, she thinks as she wipes her eyes with the back of her hand.
The Captain pulls a handkerchief out of his pocket and hands it to her. The handkerchief is made from the softest, thinnest cotton, more like paper than cloth, and is embroidered with the words The Captain. Liz blows her nose in it. Her father carries handkerchiefs. And the memory necessitates another nose blow.
"Don't cry. It's not so bad here," the Captain says.
Liz shakes her head. "It's the dust from under the bed. It's getting in my eyes." She returns the handkerchief to the Captain.
"Keep it," says the Captain. "You'll probably need it again." He stands with the perfect posture of a career military man, but his head only comes up to Liz's chest. "I trust you'll be leaving in the next five minutes," he says. "You don't want to stay." And with that, he quietly closes the cabin door behind him.
Liz considers what the strange little boy has said. As much as she longs to be with her family and her friends, she doesn't want to be a ghost. She certainly doesn't want to cause more pain to the people she loves. She knows there is only one thing to do.
Liz looks out the porthole one last time. The sun has almost set, and she passingly wonders if it is the same sun they have at home.
The only person on the dock is Betty Bloom. Although Liz has never seen Betty before, something about the woman reminds Liz of her own mother. Betty waves to Liz and begins walking toward her with purposeful, even strides.
"Welcome, Elizabeth! I've been waiting such a long time to meet you." The woman pulls Liz into a tight embrace that Liz attempts to wiggle out of. "How like Olivia."
"How do you know my mother?" Liz demands.
"I'm her mother, your Grandma Betty, but you never met me. I died before you were born." Grandma Betty embraces Liz again. "You were named for me; my full name's Elizabeth, too, but I've always been Betty."
"But how is that possible? How can you be my grandmother when you look the same age as my mother?" Liz asks.
"Welcome to Elsewhere." Grandma Betty laughs, pointing matter-of-factly to the large banner that hangs over the pier.
"I don't understand."
"Here, no one gets older, everyone gets younger. But don't worry, they'll explain all of that at your acclimation appointment."
"I'm getting younger? But it took me so long to get to fifteen!"
"Don't worry, darling, it all works out in the end. You're going to love it here."
Understandably, Liz isn't so sure.
Excerpt from ELSEWHERE by Gabrielle Zevin. Copyright © 2005 by Gabrielle Zevin. Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC in 2005. All rights reserved. Visitors to this Web site are warned that this work is protected under copyright laws and reproduction is strictly prohibited. Permission to reproduce the material in any manner or medium must be secured from Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.
2. Water is a powerful image and symbol that runs throughout the book. Why does the author elect to use water as such an essential symbol? Discuss some of the other symbols, such as Liz's stitches, the watch her father gave her, and the snow globe.
3. There are many characters who are part of the story of Elsewhere, all of them are critical to it. No characters, not even the canine ones, are minor to the story. Explore how the characters move the novel forward. How does each of them help Liz adjust to life on Elsewhere and come to understand that life on Elsewhere is something to be cherished?
4. If you were in Liz's shoes, would you spend all you time on the Observation Deck or do you think you'd acclimate? Would you mourn the loss of your life on Earth? Would you view being on Elsewhere as a liberating change and fresh start?
5. Notice the allusions made to classic and contemporary literature throughout the novel. Liz recalls a line about antique lands. Aldous Ghent prompts Liz to read Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Liz reads Charlotte's Web as she grows younger. Finally, Owen reads Tuck Everlasting to Liz when she is no longer able to read on her own. How does each address some facet of Liz's life (on Earth and Elsewhere) and experiences?
6. How does the author use humor in the novel? What examples of wordplay are evident? Is the humor intended to defuse the emotion of a serious situation or scene? Is it a way to show how Liz is becoming acclimated to life on Elsewhere?
7. Liz and all the other arrivals in Elsewhere are encouraged to find an avocation to pursue during their time there. Ghent explains to Liz that an avocation is something that makes one's soul complete (page 74). Some of the residents of Elsewhere work in avocations similar to the jobs they did on Earth; others have new ones. Marilyn Monroe becomes a psychiatrist. Curtis Jest decides to be a fisherman and comments that John Lennon is a gardener. How do the avocations of Monroe, Lennon, Owen, Betty, Curtis, and other characters reflect what they really want out of their new lives? What would you chose as an avocation?
8. This novel is divided into three separate parts and also employs a prologue and an epilogue. What purpose do the three parts serve? What important events occur in each of the three parts? Why did the author chose Liz's dog, Lucy, to narrate the prologue? How does the epilogue bring the novel not to a close but to a resolution?
CarlJM
Posted February 26, 2009
I Also Recommend:
Liz is your typical teenage girl until she is killed in a car accident. She then finds herself on a strange boat with a one-way ticket to Elsewhere where she will begin her afterlife. All Liz wants is to be back home with her family and friends. She just can't seem to move on from the past and start her new "life" in Elsewhere.
In her novel Elsewhere, Gabrielle Zevin weaves an intriguing story about a fascinating world called Elsewhere that will change the way you think about an afterlife. Elsewhere is the home to people who have died.
When Liz arrives in Elsewhere she meets her Grandmother who had died of Breast Cancer before Liz was born. Liz soon discovers the Observation Decks, which allow the residents of Elsewhere to see what is happening on earth. She becomes obsessed with watching her family and friends and even tries to make contact with the living, which is illegal in Elsewhere.
One of the things that makes this book so thought provoking is that every resident of Elsewhere ages backwards until they are babies. When they are seven days old, the babies are placed in the river to float back to earth where they are reborn. I think this an interesting twist that the author added to give the story more depth.
Elsewhere is a great book for readers who enjoy a little bit of fantasy mixed with realistic fiction. In the end, readers will come to understand that death is not something to fear. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin is a bittersweet book full of thoughtful details.
43 out of 44 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.SeasandOceans
Posted March 6, 2010
Elsewhere is so emotional and riveting, I couldn't stop reading it! Its hilarious and bittersweet at parts, and the relationships the characters have are fascinating. The afterlife described in this book is intriguing. The writing flows beautifully with the story and makes the reader want MORE!
6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted February 13, 2008
I read the book, and I even read the reviews and am surprised to find so many think this is 'exactly' what happens after you die or MIGHT be. Well, I am not sure what the motive of the writer was, but introducing another myth about the afterlife to comfort people who feel a NEED to believe such fluff is harmful if it prevents them from asking more rational questions about life after death, God, etc.. Even just logically speaking, if kids really believed in Elsewhere rather than some depiction that could be demonstrated to be more reasonable and that truly prepared them for the afterlife, wouldn't Elsewhere be the WORST thing that ever happened to them?
5 out of 43 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Jessi-21
Posted September 11, 2009
I Also Recommend:
In this unique vision of the afterlife, the recently deceased find themselves aboard the SS Nile, bound for Elsewhere. The thing about Elsewhere is that it's just like "here", with houses and cars and jobs, except that people age backwards, getting younger every year.
"What happens when you hit the big zero?" you may ask.
Let's just say that in Elsewhere, recycling is the way to go, gently down the stream, without a paddle.
At first, fifteen year old Lizzie finds it hard to adjust to not being alive, but with the love and support of her now middle-aged grandmother, she is finally able to find her niche in death. Along the way she makes mistakes, but she also makes life-long friends, although of course that's a variable factor anywhere.
A "coming of age" story in reverse and an intriguing concept (albeit a little over-simplified in certain aspects) this book is recommended for ages twelve and up, but definitely one to be considered.
4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.penguin123
Posted September 25, 2010
I really liked this book because it kept me on the edge of my seat. I think the author did a really good job on this book because I enjoyed it very much. This was definitely the best book I have ever read. I recommend this book to other people like me who like fictional books. I really liked it there really should be another one!
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted July 31, 2012
The ending was the best. It was so well put together and happy that i felt like crying. Elswhere is about a girl named liz who dies getting hit by a cab when she is only 15 years old. After dying liz finds her self on the ship to elsewhere- a mgical land where the dead go only to be reborn again. Elswhere is an amazing book full of adventure, friendship, and even a little romance. An unforgetable storry that will remind you never to fear death. A great book that will keep you on the edge of your seat all night long.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 19, 2012
This was one of the best books I 've ever read. It was emotional and I was practically BAWLING at the end of this book.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted March 29, 2012
I dont read very often ... but this book caught my eye. This book i think is a very different type of perspective. It was quite obviously written by someone with a wild and creative imagination and i think it deserves to at least be given a chance if u cant buy the book read the sample or go to a library because trust me it was worth my time. if i could give this book more stars i would. :)
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted January 14, 2012
Great book! Definately one of my favorites.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.After struggling to read the first two chapters, I had a headache. A pounding, annoying headache. This book is simply lifeless, and the characters are loose, aloof and weak. There was nothing worth reading about this book.
I forced myself to read the first chapter, though I just couldn't continue reading half of the the second. It was simply loose. The writing was weak. I see that many people like this book, thouhg the reasons I do not understand.
The characters are kind of wierd, too. A teenager like the main character would never exist. She thought of what she was saying, and the author made her seem like an angel. No one would think that deeply into what they do.
The story itself is odd, peculiar, and strange.
I do not recommend this book at all, though some readers that don't like thinking too deep into books might find this appliable.
2 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted November 18, 2012
I read this book when i was a kid back when i was terrified of dying and it completely changed my life! I would highly recommend. Its just one if those books that you will think about long after you finish it! READ IT!!!!!! You will not be sorry.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 31, 2012
I just cant find words for this book i absolutly loved it, i kinda hope its true.
Zevens best.
MUST BUY!
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.SpartanReading
Posted September 24, 2012
I rate this book a 10 out of 10 cheerios because this book was something new and original that I have never experienced or read before and it kept me on the edge of spining chair the whole time!
Once apon a time, there was a 15, almost 16 year old girl named Liz who died in a car crash. She is forced to leave the world she once loved, her friends, family, and start again on Elsewhere. Elsewhere is the "life" after death, you age backwards from death until you are a baby then head back to earth. This book opens up the perspective of few different characters after death, Liz being the main, and unlocks a new way of looking at death that is original and garented to make you laugh, smile, and cry.
I recomend this book to anyone who has ever been curious about what life might be like after death. This book comapares the univerous to a tree. The leaves and branches being the world we all know. Leaves will sprout and be born and will eventually fall and die. The roots of the tree represent Elsewhere, growing parallel to the world but very hard to see. Both worlds seem so far away but conected by the trunk.
I also recomend this book to people who have loved, been loved, and lost. Liz feels this when she dies, all she has left of her old life are memories and the from the acident, stiches. She strugles with the pulling of wanting to return to life through out the book but she learns that it is better to have loved and lost life then to have never lived at all.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted July 12, 2012
This is a amzing book, my all time favorite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted July 3, 2012
This is a great book for science fiction lovers. Its even better for someone venturing outside their usual book genre for the first time. I thought the concept was creative and fun. Great book for teens because its short ( about 200 pages). It felt rushed, however, towards the end. I could almost feel the author's rush to end it. Overall, beautiful story.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.eldridgeamy
Posted May 9, 2012
The story begins with the main character, Lizzie who is fifteen, almost sixteen. She doesn't really know what's going on until she wakes up on a ship, the S.S Nile. Not long into the book you realize that the S.S Nile, is a ship that takes people that have died, to heaven, or what they call it, Elsewhere. Liz soon makes friends with a girl, Thandai, and also realizes, she's dead. Lizzie was hit by a taxi cab while riding her bike. The person who gets her though everything strange in Elsewhere is her grandmother who lives there. Betty tells Liz all to know about Elsewhere. The main idea about that place is in elsewhere, you don'y grow old, instead you grow young, until you've reached less than one, then you are taken to a river in which you are let go, and turned into a new baby on Earth. Through her journey, Liz falls in love with a guy, Owen, who is with her most of the story. Eventually Lizzie grows to a baby again, and sent to the river, ending the book. For how weird the book was, I actually enjoyed reading it. It was a short book, but had a lot to the story. I would recommend this to really anyone, it's an easy book to read, understand, and to like.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted February 25, 2012
Luved it
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted January 29, 2012
I know ive already posted somthing about it but im mean its not like anyones gonna take my advice,ok so this is my favorite book in the world its sad and not sad at the same time and its romantic but not that romantic at the same time and i even got mad at myself for reading all of it because i wanted it to keep going but the last like forty pages were "aknowlegdements" " gofish" and a preview of another book that the author wrote and im still really really mad at myself.
:)
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted November 4, 2011
I liked this book but, it just didn't "fill my hunger" and hope I had.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 30, 2011
Th beggining of the book was really confusing. How were u even soppused to know that she was a dog? I didnt even finish reading the sample before i ended the book and deleted it from my library. I dont even understand where the author was coming from when she made the speaker a dog. No offense bur wjoever rated this more than two stars reling has boring tasteof reading choice. But than again that is only my opinion.
Excuse my review if anything is spelled wrong typing on Nook is quite difficult.
1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Overview
Welcome to Elsewhere. It is warm, with a breeze, and the beaches are marvelous. It’s quiet and peaceful. You can’t get sick or any older. Curious to see new paintings by Picasso? Swing by one of Elsewhere’s museums. Need to talk to someone about your problems? Stop by Marilyn Monroe’s psychiatric practice. Elsewhere is where fifteen-year-old Liz Hall ends up, after she has died. It is a place so like Earth, yet completely different. Here Liz will age backward from the day of her death ...