The World Without Us

by Robin Stevenson

Overview

What do you do when someone you care about wants you to follow him to a really dark place? Do you pull away? Do you help plan the trip? Or do you put your own life on the line in the hope that love will coax your friend away from the precipice? When Mel meets Jeremy, she thinks she has finally found someone who understands her, someone who will listen to her, someone who cares. But Jeremy has secrets that torment him, and Mel isn’t sure she can save him from his demons. All she knows is that she has to save herself.

Set in Florida, against a backdrop of anti-death-penalty activism, The World Without Us examines one girl’s choices in a world where the stakes are very high and one misstep can hurt—or even kill—you.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459806825
Publisher:	Orca Book Publishers
Publication date:	02/15/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	12 Years

About the Author

Robin Stevenson is the author of more than twenty-five books for kids and teens, including Pride Puppy!, Pride Colors and Kid Activists: True Tales of Childhood from Champions of Change. The first edition of her nonfiction book Pride: Celebrating Diversity&Community (2016) won a Stonewall Honor and was shortlisted for numerous other awards. Robin lives in Victoria, British Columbia.

Editorial Reviews

12/22/2014
Ever since Melody got drunk at a party and took a handful of Tylenol, she’s been stuck with the reputation of being suicidal. Melody resents her two best friends for spreading rumors about that night, so when new student Jeremy reaches out to her, the 16-year-old jumps at the chance to have a like-minded, empathetic friend. But Jeremy is obsessed with trying to contact his younger brother, Lucas, who drowned two years earlier, through lucid dreaming—or by taking his own life. Melody plays along with Jeremy’s suicide plans until she realizes he’s serious and she’s unable to stop him from jumping off a bridge. Jeremy survives and turns to religion; meanwhile, Melody is left alone with her guilt. Stevenson (Hummingbird Heart) supplements the main plot with a thread about prisoners on death row, juxtaposing the story’s suicide theme with questions about the ethics of execution by the state. These and other issues threaten to overwhelm the story at times, but readers will be left with plenty to ponder about vulnerability, understanding, and escaping one’s demons in order to fully embrace life. Ages 12–up. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"Because the story does not conform to clear cut relationships or dimensions, the plot is believable...The World Without Us is a great read and focuses on a topic that deserves attention."

CM Magazine

"A discussion of this book in school curriculum would be important in raising awareness of teenage suicide and prevention."

Resource Links

"Stevenson has a knack for bringing thought-provoking tales to young readers...The World Without Us delves into issues with which young people might be dealing: grief and guilt, suicidal thoughts, friendship and love...Stevenson reminds us in her eloquent text that the fictional can become reality in a split second and with just a slip of time or even a misstep."

CanLit for Little Canadians blog

"Compelling and emotionally honest, this story probes the complex relationship between the psychology of teen suicide and survivor guilt, skillfully juxtaposed against the backdrop of capital punishment in present day Florida...Stevenson’s engaging storyline quickly draws the reader into the richly complicated lives of Mel, Jeremy, and their families...Complete with solidly drawn characters, moving dialogue, and a realistic, not-so-tidy ending, The World Without Us is an intense, astute exploration of love, death, self-discovery, heartbreak, and hope that will serve as a catalyst for earnest dialogue not only about mental health, but also the strength of the human spirit and how we define the meaning of life."

National Reading Campaign blog

"Stevenson explores the complex psychology of suicide and survivor’s guilt through the lives of these realistic teens. There are no easy answers here, no miraculous recoveries. But there is hope...Deals sensitively with a tough issue."

Booklist

"Stevenson explores the complex psychology of suicide and survivor’s guilt through the lives of these realistic teens. There are no easy answers here, no miraculous recoveries. But there is hope...Deals sensitively with a tough issue."

Booklist

2014-12-06
Jeremy is trying to talk Melody into jumping off the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Florida at the opening of this look at both what motivates someone to suicide and how people cope with the aftermath of a failed attempt. Mel's first-person narration plunges readers into the action before flashing back to explore the excruciating pain that leads Jeremy to contemplate suicide. Cutting back and forth between past and present, Mel struggles with her guilt at not being able to talk him out of it and the agonizing possibility that she led him into thinking they could go together. They connected a few months earlier at a party, her nickname Death Wish (earned after a fumbled attempt to take too many Tylenols) making Jeremy feel he's found a fellow traveler. Mel may have thought they were joking about suicide, but Jeremy, suffering from survivor guilt after the death of his younger brother while he was in charge, is definitely not. In a related subplot, Mel's mother's activism against the death penalty and Mel's familiarity with the issues surrounding death row widen the book's thematic focus without falling into proselytizing. While readers learn early on that Jeremy has survived, they will find the ways each teen views and handles death to be compellingly presented. The dialogue sometimes sounds off, clearly written in the service of Stevenson's themes rather than character development. Dialogue bobbles aside, commendably on topic. (Fiction. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews