Thoughts & Prayers: A Novel in Three Parts

by Bryan Bliss, Tara Sands (Read by), Carlotta Brentan (Read by), Barrett Leddy (Read by)

Overview

“In his unflinching and resonant new novel, Bryan Bliss shows that there is no straight line through trauma, no easy recipe for healing. Instead, in three loosely connected stories of young people bound by an all-too familiar tragedy, he deftly illuminates the small moments of human connection and resolve that might just lead to a place of grace.”—Gayle Forman, bestselling author of If I Stay and I Have Lost My Way

Fight. Flight. Freeze. What do you do when you can’t move on, even though the rest of the world seems to have? 

Powerful and tense, Thoughts & Prayers is an extraordinary novel that explores what it means to heal and to feel safe in a world that constantly chooses violence.

Claire, Eleanor, and Brezzen have little in common. Claire fled to Minnesota with her older brother, Eleanor is the face of a social movement, and Brezzen retreated into the fantasy world of Wizards & Warriors.

But a year ago, they were linked. They all hid under the same staircase and heard the shots that took the lives of some of their classmates and a teacher. Now, each one copes with the trauma as best as they can, even as the world around them keeps moving.

Told in three loosely connected but inextricably intertwined stories, National Book Award–longlisted author Bryan Bliss’s Thoughts & Prayers follows three high school students in the aftermath of a school shooting. Thoughts & Prayers is a story about gun violence, but more importantly it is the story of what happens after the reporters leave and the news cycle moves on to the next tragedy. It is the story of three unforgettable teens who feel forgotten.

For readers of Jason Reynolds, Marieke Nijkamp, and Laurie Halse Anderson.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781799942337
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	09/29/2020
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 5.70(h) x (d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Tara Sands is an American actress, television host, and voice talent who has won numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards for her narrations.

Carlotta Brentan is a voice talent and audiobook narrator.

Brian Bliss is the author of Meet Me Here and No Parking at the End Times. He holds master’s degrees in theology and fiction and works as a curriculum designer and developer. He lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with his wife and two children.

Editorial Reviews

[A] richly realized novel . . . Divided into three parts . . . each part is nearly long enough to have been published as a standalone novel . . . The theme, of course, is a powerful one, and it is passionately and successfully presented in this inarguably important book, which offers no glib answers but invites serious thought and discussion.” — Booklist (starred review)

"In his unflinching and resonant new novel, Bryan Bliss shows that there is no straight line through trauma, no easy recipe for healing. Instead, in three loosely connected stories of young people bound by an all-too familiar tragedy, he deftly illuminates the small  moments of human connection and resolve that might just lead to a place of grace." — Gayle Forman, bestselling author of If I Stay and I Have Lost My Way

“About one year ago, three students cowered together under a staircase during a mass shooting in their school. Now, each one is attempting to move on with life in their own way. . . . The characters are real and likable, and their trauma is honest and raw. Bliss raises unanswerable questions that will allow teenage readers room to reflect and debate. . . . An affecting story of trauma and healing.” — Kirkus Reviews

“A year after a school shooting, three teens share their stories. . . . Though showing signs of light, the characters' recovery is far from over by the book’s end, which rings authentically untidy. . . . Each story is a separate meditation on the ways a horrific event can turn a life upside down.” — School Library Journal

“[An] affecting narrative triptych. . . . In each memorable narrative thread, characters are distinct and carefully drawn . . . The three stories do yield 'an honest picture of healing after trauma,' as the author hopes.” — Horn Book Magazine

From the Publisher

[An] affecting narrative triptych. . . . In each memorable narrative thread, characters are distinct and carefully drawn . . . The three stories do yield 'an honest picture of healing after trauma,' as the author hopes.

Horn Book Magazine

"In his unflinching and resonant new novel, Bryan Bliss shows that there is no straight line through trauma, no easy recipe for healing. Instead, in three loosely connected stories of young people bound by an all-too familiar tragedy, he deftly illuminates the small  moments of human connection and resolve that might just lead to a place of grace."

Gayle Forman

[A] richly realized novel . . . Divided into three parts . . . each part is nearly long enough to have been published as a standalone novel . . . The theme, of course, is a powerful one, and it is passionately and successfully presented in this inarguably important book, which offers no glib answers but invites serious thought and discussion.

Booklist (starred review)

2020-07-14
Three high school students cope with the aftermath of a school shooting.

About one year ago, three students cowered together under a staircase during a mass shooting in their school. Now, each one is attempting to move on with life in their own way. Claire has fled to another state and tried to forget, Eleanor rages against the establishment, and Brezzen has retreated into the escapist fantasy of a Dungeons and Dragons–like game. This book shines in certain areas while stumbling in others. The characters are real and likable, and their trauma is honest and raw. Bliss raises unanswerable questions that will allow teenage readers room to reflect and debate. He offers no trite solutions yet does not feign political neutrality. An element of the story having to do with zero-tolerance rhetoric that promotes criminalizing and expelling troubled kids instead of helping them may not be sufficiently contextualized for some readers. And though the characters and their trauma feel real, the depictions of their respective subcultures of skateboarding, basketball, and tabletop role-playing have the distinct flavor of an adult trying too hard to be hip. Ultimately, the book may leave some readers wanting a stronger thesis or at least a conclusive end to the kids’ stories. But as in trauma and life, sometimes there is no neat ending. Characters default to White.

An affecting story of trauma and healing. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews