The Leaving Room

by Amber McBride

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

A poignant story of what happens in the minutes between life and death through the eyes of a Keeper named Gospel, who helps souls reach their next phase in the universe.

**NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST!**

"Intimate and astonishing."--Jason Reynolds, New York Times Bestselling Author

For fans of You've Reached Sam and If I Stay, a hauntingly beautiful, ultimately hopeful novel-in-verse about a girl in between life and death, by National Book Award Finalist Amber McBride.

Gospel is the Keeper of the Leaving Room—a place all young people must phase through when they die. The young are never ready to leave; they need a moment to remember and a Keeper to help their wispy souls along.

When a random door opens and a Keeper named Melodee arrives, their souls become entangled. Gospel's seriousness melts and Melodee’s fear of connection fades, but still—are Keepers allowed to fall in love? Now they must find a way out of the Leaving Room and be unafraid of their love. In a novel that takes place over four minutes, National Book Award finalist Amber McBride explores connection, memory, and hope in ways that are unforgettable and poignant.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781420533811
Publisher:	Thorndike Press, A Cengage Group
Publication date:	03/25/2026
Edition description:	Large Print
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Amber McBride’s debut young adult novel, Me (Moth), was a finalist for the National Book Awards and won the 2022 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent, among many other accolades. Her second young adult novel, We Are All So Good at Smiling, was a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, and praised for offering “important messages, uniquely delivered” by Kirkus in a starred review. Gone Wolf, Amber McBride’s middle grade fiction debut, was awarded the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and was named a Best Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews. She lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Editorial Reviews

**NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST**
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year

"Intimate and astonishing..." -- Jason Reynolds, New York Times Bestselling Author

★ "A 17-year-old guardian of the memories of recently deceased young people questions her purpose in the latest from National Book Award finalist McBride....McBride is a master of verse, weaving lines with emotion and character development, articulating pain and hope with an economy of words, and documenting Black lives with tenderness. Reverberating with a haunting trauma, this powerful narrative is packed with Black joy, queer love, and feminist defiance. Compelling and evocative: a must-read. Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★"Achingly tender...through quiet, in-between-feeling moments rendered in an eerie, philosophical tone, McBride considers the liminal spaces between life and death, as well as the weight of grief and loss on children, particularly Black youth. Richly imagined settings pulled from Leavers’ memories (“Haint-­blue ceilings/ & rocking chairs to sit/ & watch giant willows weep”) evoke Black Southern gothic imagery, adding texture to this wholesome speculative novel."--Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ "Sparse yet evocative verse brings to life a deep and profound exploration of the liminal space between life and death, between here and wherever there is. Love and loss are given equal space in the narrative, and creative, thoughtful play with the structure of words on the page is engaging. Gorgeous and haunting, through and through. — Booklist, starred review

★ This is a truly remarkable and graceful book with a bittersweet final act."--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review

"The lyrical verse captures tender moments of grief while celebrating Black joy, queer love, and the transformative power of human connection. Readers journey alongside Gospel in this moving exploration of what it means to fully exist and what it takes to choose a life."-- The Horn Book

From the Publisher

★ 2025-06-13
A 17-year-old guardian of the memories of recently deceased young people questions her purpose in the latest from National Book Award finalist McBride.

The Keepers stay in their Leaving Rooms, ushering Leavers through this liminal space between life and death. Gospel, a Keeper who struggles with following rules, prides herself on providing Leavers with meals made of loving memories and cares for the souls during their precious four minutes with her. Tending to children who have just died, Gospel takes each one’s “best memory,” often involving a meal, and places it in one of the mason jars that line her bookshelves, which are “made from living trees.” Some of the Leavers haunt Gospel, their presences creating lasting memories for her—5-year-old Maple and 8-year-old Suvi, in particular (readers later learn the reason behind their significance). As Gospel struggles with the weight of her role, Melodee, who’s also a Keeper, enters her Leaving Room, breaking another rule. Their connection is instantaneous; “I didn’t know Keepers /could feel love,” Gospel observes—and she wonders whether her existence might hold more meaning. McBride is a master of verse, weaving lines with emotion and character development, articulating pain and hope with an economy of words, and documenting Black lives with tenderness. Reverberating with a haunting trauma, this powerful narrative is packed with Black joy, queer love, and feminist defiance.

Compelling and evocative: a must-read. (author’s note, playlist)(Verse fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews

2025 Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year, Long-listed