The Ethan I Was Before

by Ali Standish

Overview

“Readers will be riveted.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) 

The Ethan I Was Before is an award-winning story of love and loss, wonder and adventure, and ultimately of hope.

Lost in the Sun meets The Thing About Jellyfish in Ali Standish’s breathtaking debut. A poignant middle grade novel of friendship and forgiveness, this is a classic in the making.

Ethan had been many things. He was always ready for adventure and always willing to accept a dare, especially from his best friend, Kacey. But that was before. Before the accident that took Kacey from him. Before his family moved from Boston to the small town of Palm Knot, Georgia.

Palm Knot may be tiny, but it’s the home of possibility and second chances. It’s also home to Coralee, a girl with a big personality and even bigger stories. Coralee may be just the friend Ethan needs, except Ethan isn’t the only one with secrets. Coralee’s are catching up with her, and what she’s hiding might be putting both their lives at risk.

Don't miss Ali Standish's captivating new novel, August Isle, hitting shelves Winter 2019!

Okra Pick (Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance) * Indie Introduce Pick * Indie Next Pick * Goodreads Choice Award Semifinalist * Carnegie Medal Longlist Title * Southern Book Prize Longlist Title * A Bank Street Best Book of the Year * A Children's Book Review Best Book of the Year * Georgia Children's Book Award Nominee * Recipient of the North Carolina Young People's Literature Award

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062433381
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/24/2017
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.90(d)
Lexile:	730L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Ali Standish is the award-winning author of books for the young and young at heart, including the Carnegie-nominated The Ethan I Was Before, August Isle, Bad Bella, The Climbers, How to Disappear Completely, The Mending Summer, and Yonder. Her books are Junior Library Guild Selections, have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, ALA Booklist, and School Library Journal, have been named as Indie Next titles and nominated for Goodreads Choice Awards. During her years living in a tumbledown Victorian cottage in the UK, she obtained a master’s degree in children’s literature from the University of Cambridge. She now resides in North Carolina with her husband and sons. You can visit her online at alistandish.com.

Editorial Reviews

★ 10/24/2016
Debut author Standish boldly tackles themes of death, guilt, and forgiveness in this tender coming-of-age story. Twelve-year-old Ethan Truitt blames himself for a tragic accident involving his best friend, Kacey. To help Ethan recover, his parents uproot the family from their Boston home and move to Georgia. In the town of Palm Knot, Ethan tries to adapt to living in his grumpy Grandpa Ike’s dilapidated house, fit in at school, and avoid his older brother, Roddie, who is angry about the family’s relocation. Ethan befriends a imaginative and daring girl named Coralee, and the two are soon having the kinds of adventures Ethan once shared with Kacey and thought he’d never have again. While building suspense by withholding what exactly happened between Ethan and Kacey until well into the story, Standish movingly conveys Ethan’s persistent grief and guilt, which Coralee and others helps him think about in new ways. Readers will be riveted as Ethan, his family, and other well-developed characters face the somber realities of life head on. Ages 8–12. Agent: Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

★ “Debut author Standish boldly tackles themes of death, guilt, and forgiveness in this tender coming-of-age story. Readers will be riveted as Ethan, his family, and other well-developed characters face the somber realities of life head on.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A moving debut. An uplifting book that explores the way grief evolves through the power of remembrance.” — ALA Booklist

“Standish skillfully weaves the events and characters into the fabric of a story that is emotionally charged. A great addition to middle grade collections.” — School Library Journal

“A deft balance between storytelling and accessible reflection for the middle-school reader.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

From the Publisher

A moving debut. An uplifting book that explores the way grief evolves through the power of remembrance.

ALA Booklist

A deft balance between storytelling and accessible reflection for the middle-school reader.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

02/01/2017
Gr 4–6—Ethan and his family relocate from Boston to Palm Knot, GA, ostensibly to help Ethan's grandfather as he gets older. Yet it quickly becomes clear that the real reason is Ethan; he has experienced a tragic incident involving his best friend Kasey, and his parents think a new place will bring a new start. On top of Ethan's guilt from the accident, he must make new friends at school, deal with his brother Roddie's dissatisfaction with their new home, and witness the arguments between his mother and grandfather, who don't get along for mysterious reasons. This title is packed with conflict and familial and personal strife. Debut author Standish skillfully weaves the events and characters into the fabric of a story that is emotionally charged and well-developed. Ethan is a sensitive and lost soul, grappling with the emotions of a typical adolescent boy and the turmoil of a traumatic event. His new friend Coralee is exciting and enticing and the kind of friend any young person might wish for or strive to be. Ethan's grandfather is also an amusing and fascinating character, wise and sympathetic to the struggling Ethan. As the mysteries unfold—What was the accident, and how did Kasey get hurt? Who is the mystery woman in the creepy house down the lane? Why don't Grandpa and Ethan's mother get along?—there is never a dull moment, and the rapid pace keeps readers engaged. VERDICT Ambitious but never convoluted, this novel is a fine addition to middle grade collections, especially those seeking nuanced realistic fiction.—Kaitlin Malixi, Bucks County Free Library, Doylestown, PA

School Library Journal

2016-10-19
A grieving boy befriends an unconventional girl in a small Southern town in Standish's debut. Twelve-year-old Ethan, his parents, and his older brother move from Boston to live with his grandfather in Palm Knot, Georgia, ostensibly so they can help Grandpa Ike as he ages but actually, says Ethan, "because of what I did to Kacey." At his new school, Ethan, who is white, befriends a small, feisty black girl, Coralee, who seems on the outs with most of the other students for reasons that are not clear. Coralee leads Ethan through strange adventures—investigating an abandoned house, stealing and restealing jewels—as narrator Ethan gradually relates his history: that he dared his best friend, Kacey, to climb a tree and she fell; she's not dead, but she's in a coma. Much of Standish's writing is smooth, but her characters often act inconsistently, seemingly in order to further the plot, as when Grandpa Ike, who otherwise ignores the family, teaches Ethan to drive his truck. Ethan's own deceptive self-narration seems designed to string readers along. The improbable ending falls short of being emotionally satisfying, probably because the emotions expressed in it don't ring true. This is the sort of melodramatic story that relies on the characters never telling each other the whole truth; add that to being yet another book about a tragic medical situation for a miss. (Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews

A deft balance between storytelling and accessible reflection for the middle-school reader.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

This debut audiobook will grab listeners’ hearts and not let go. Ethan and his family have moved from Boston to Pine Knot, Georgia, supposedly to help his grandfather, but really to help Ethan recover from "the incident" involving his best friend, Kacey. Narrator Kirby Heyborne is extraordinary in the way he inhabits the character of 12-year-old Ethan, vocal cracks and all. He gives listeners the sense of eavesdropping on his innermost thoughts as he slowly finds his way back to the Ethan he was before. He voices Grandpa Ike with just the right balance of crustiness and compassion and gives tones of believable frustration mixed with longing to big brother Roddie, who had to leave girlfriend and dreams of baseball stardom behind. A perfect listening experience! N.E.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2017 - AudioFile