Twelve year old Eddie and his family are moving to Los Angeles when their plane crashes. Eddie is the only survivor and the book mainly looks at how he copes with this. He goes to live with his aunt and uncle and is helped by their neighbour's daughter who befriends him. The narrative goes between the build up to the crash centring in on a few passengers and Eddie's (now Edward) journey through grief to hope for the future.

I found this a difficult book to like. Much of it is centred on the premise that relatives of the passengers write to Edward and I just found this hard to swallow. I could have believed a handful of relatives so doing but there seemed to be endless letters for Edward exhorting him to do things their relatives might have done had they lived. The most believable part is him coping with his grief.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I have to be honest in saying that I cannot read this book. The storyline and style of writing is good but the for.at and layout makes it very hard to read.

I requested this book only a few hours ago. Since downloading it all I have done is read, and cry.
I don't have the language skills to properly convey just how good Dear Edward is. If you read the blurb and think this would never happen, trust me, you must read it.
The style of writing and the way the sections are broken up - before, the flight, now - all merge to make this a book you cannot stop reading at the end of the next chapter. The flow of words, at least for me, had to remain unbroken.
My only disappointment is that I can no longer read Dear Edward for the first time.

Im almost ashamed to say that I quit this book 15% in..... it was confusing and thready.
I very seldom do this and it’s never an easy decision, but there are too many wonderful books waiting to be read for me to be reading one which I can’t concentrate on..... I found myself distracted and mentally writing my shopping list, which is never a good sign.

It goes without saying that this book will make you feel emotional. I felt so much sadness and admiration for Edward and, despite him being only 12 years old, I found him to be a relatable character. I liked how the book switched between Edward's life after the crash and the flight before it crashed. It made the book more of a page turner and it felt like I was reading both fiction and mystery (in a good way).
Ann Napolitano tackles grief, friendship and survival in an extremely moving way. Edward isn't the only one that I came to love, the passengers on the plane and those who support him after the crash all feel equally real and like characters in their own right, rather than accessories to the plot.

I was unsure at first whether I would like 'Dear Edward' but I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it.

Edward is a young boy who is the sole survivor of a plane crash that claims the lives of his family. Edward is sent to live with his aunt and uncle who had been trying for a baby for a long time but stopped when he moved in. I thought this book got off to a really promising start but it just dragged and became a total chore to read. I don't like marking anything unfinished so I kept going but really didn't enjoy it. It isn't badly written but the plot seems to go around in circles for most of it.

Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano is about twelve-year-old Edward Adler who is the sole survivor of a plane crash that kills his older brother and parents and all the other passengers on board.