It's so sad that we live in a world where books like these have to exist to help people and victims process their grief and have people empathize with their loss and experience. But we do, and Emily Barth Isler captures both the heartbreaking sense of loss and trauma, as well as the hope for the future, in this beautiful middle grade novel.

I love the discussions around grief and the idea that grief can be so different for different people. Our main character just experienced the loss of her younger brother after a terminal heart condition took his life, and now she steps into a new school where many of the kids from her year were victims of a school shooting 4 years ago. Unsure how to talk about her grief in the midst of the grief of all these other children who have collectively experienced something horrible, our main character learns to listen and observe and love people as they are and listen to their stories and they to hers. This was such a beautiful book about friendship and family and loss and grief and truly depicts the impact of today's politics and our world as it is right now and the impact it is having on generations of tomorrow.

Definitely a standout middle grade for me this year. Despite all of the grief that feels these pages it was truly an uplifting novel and I loved how our characters reach a point of healing by the end. Grief is infinite, but love is infinite as well and I think that's the truly beautiful lesson shared within this novel.

TW: grief, school shooting, death of a sibling, alienation; mentions child death, death, injury detail, bullying

Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Pacing: 5/5
Overall: 5/5

ALC gifted via NetGalley by Lerner Digital in exchange for an honest review.

It took me forever to read this ARC. I know why. This book is about a girl who just lost her brother and her parents move
them to a town in California where there was a shooting at a middle school. She ends up going to this school where the kids are still recovering with what happened. While going to school where there are students dealing with PTSD from the shooting but she is still dealing with the death of her brother. She makes friend with the step-sister of the shooter who everyone avoids. She also joins an after school activity.

Her parents all the while act like she has no idea what happened ( or at least not fully). So while going to school with Students who are going through the process of loss and scared she is dealing with her parents avoidance about her brother,

I know a lot of people will not agree with me but I think every kid needs to read this book. Honestly, I think parents and teachers should too. This book faces things that actually happen. It takes you through the emotions of now people deal with things like mass shootings and even death from a terminal sickness. Is it deep information? Yes. That is the world Right now. School shootings still happen and so does sickness. This book shows you that kids know more than Adults would like them to know. We can only protect out kids from so much• we have to remember they are Smart and will find things out.

I do love this book and do think this is a must read. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Lerner Digital for this ARC copy. I do hope everyone picks this book up at least once in there lifetime.

this was a heart-warming graphic novel that i would recommend to younger audiences that feel excluded or insecure, know that you are not alone. the art was nice as well

When I first started reading this, I wasn't sure that I would love it as much as I did. This poignant and relevant story is one that middle grade students will relate to, even though they shouldn't have to understand the subject matter of the book. Emily Barth Isler does an exquisite job telling a story of survival - from trauma ... from grief... from life.

My daughter read this book. She said it seemed super sad but she found it very interesting. There was a great twist at the end. She would not recommend this book for younger readers.

I downloaded this audio book, but then there were several shootings and I had to put this aside for a long while. I was feeling overwhelmed with the world.

I thought this book handled the subject of death (both expected-terminal illness, and unexpected-the school shooting) with care and sensitivity. This is appropriate and recommended for both tween and adult readers.

AfterMath is a heartwarming story of friendship & family bonding through grief. It tells the story of a young girl who has recently lost her brother due to a heart condition and her family uproots her from the city she grew up in to a new school that has suffered from a tragic school shooting.

Lucy has to learn not only how to deal with the grief/guilt of losing her younger brother, but she also feels like she can't share this grief with her new classmates due to their grief over the loss of their fellow students. She also doesn't want her younger brother's death to be her entire identity.

Lucy learns how to cultivate friendships, crushes, and newfound hobbies throughout this book and I felt it was a great portrayal of all the emotions through out the story.

I really loved Lucy's hobby of miming that came to fruition and how she was able to express her feelings through creative sources, as I feel the arts are often looked down upon.

Overall, this was a

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC Audiobook!!

This was such a great middle grade book for covering a whole lot of heavy topics. There is a lot to unpack here, but that’s what I think would make it such a good book to do with a class. I feel that it lends itself to guided reading and discussion and I’m looking forward to seeing how this book gets utilized in classrooms. I will certainly be recommending it to my students.

This was cute. My kid loved it! We read it together before bed. He liked the characters and the graphics.

I enjoyed this book. I had a few apprehensions, but the topic was handled very well. The main character, Lucy, moves to a new town where a school shooting occurred a few years prior. Lucy and her family are grieving the loss of her brother and she struggles, comparing her grief to her classmates'.

The author does an excellent job of narrating her own book.

TW: Cancer, Death, School Shooting.

This book spoke to the math teacher in my heart.

Lucy moves to a new town after the death of their younger brother, but she wasn't prepared to be put into a grade of students who are all survivors of a school shooting.

She struggles to find friends. She grapples with experiencing loss and grief, making new friends, and finding a new normal with her mom and dad in this new place.

I really enjoyed this story, and I think it would be good for a kid who feels like an outsider or who has experienced grief and is grappling with that.

Full review to be posted soonish. I'll update review with links to socials.
I would like to thank the publisher and netgalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the start of this book, however a technical glitch prevented me from being able to finish it.

Schools have changed. School shootings are no longer rare occurrences but too common. AfterMath places death in the forefront and how it can occur in many different variances. Death from school shootings to illness, Isler brings dealing with death to the forefront. AfterMath is a realistic look at how children and parents deal or don't deal with death. Lucy is a great protagonist to lead readers through this heavy topic. Her lack of social understanding for emotional cues when it comes to death will allow a broad range of children to understand the nuances of grieving on many levels. We often have the strongest bond when death occurs but often that is where the story stops, not thinking to extend the conversation to a year or 10 down the road. AfterMath is that book that will help to start a conversation about death by intersecting it with Math and change.

It's been a while-but I did enjoy this book. It was tough reading, since right at the same time, a school shooting happened locally.

This book holds such a beautiful message on grief, trauma, and mental health. It is one that I would get my students to read if I was an English teacher, I think. Exploring all of the complex themes through the eyes and thoughts of Lucy, a twelve-year-old girl, and the setting of the aftermath of a school shooting brilliantly showcases the importance of dealing with trauma through professional help and parental guidance from a young age. I’m so glad that our society is reaching a point where expressing and taking care of one’s mental health is becoming less and less stigmatized and shamed, but I still think it’s important to keep the conversation surrounding these topics going. This book is a great way to instigate a discussion surrounding trauma and mental health. I know this story will stick with me for a long time.

I also thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book being narrated by none other than its own author. I believe it is fitting for such an impactful narrative to have its creator telling it, an opinion that was only amplified when I listened to the author’s notes.

I listened to the audio version of AfterMath by Emily Barth Isler. The story follows twelve year old Lucy and her family as they adjust to life in a town and school that was shattered by a recent mass shooting. In addition, Lucy’s family is in the midst of coping with their own tragedy--the recent death of Lucy’s younger brother. AfterMath shows the myriad ways people cope with grief in a way that is never heavy handed. Emily Barth Isler skillfully blends sensitive moments with moments of levity, so that by the end of the novel, we feel that even in the darkest hours, there is still room in life for friends, love, and laughter.

The audio version of AfterMath was read by Emily Barth Isler herself, and I felt that this further deepened my appreciation of the emotional weight of the narrative. Lucy’s voice was perfect, and I felt as though I was listening to a 12 year old girl confide her deepest, darkest secrets. Brava!

Aftermath turned out to be a heartwarming middle grade book. It follows Lucy, who starts at a new school after her brother dies due to a heart condition. Years before her starting at this new school, there was a school shooting, and her classmates are still dealing with the trauma. Lucy struggles to make friends, but clings to her love of math, and joins an after school mime class. Throughout the story, she learns more about grief, friendship, and love.

I really enjoyed the inclusion of math within the story. I was a math nerd at Lucy's age, and I appreciated the math jokes her father leaves for her.

The author drew inspiration from other school shootings in America, and she tackles this incredibly difficult subject in a way that is age appropriate for the middle grade reading level. She incorporates grief and trauma in ways that the target audience can understand.

The author narrates the audiobook, and I can tell that great care and love went into not just the creation of the book, but in the narration as well.

A phenomenal story for a generation defined by surviving tragedy. Emily Barth Isler highlights how grief can mean different things for different people for different situations. This is a very important topic for middle grade readers who've never known life beyond school shooter drills, probable war, and an always shifting financial world.

Readers meet Lucy, a 12-year-old girl who is forced to move after the loss of her younger brother. And she ends up in a school that is still traumatized by a school shooting that took a lot of her classmates friends. Navigating personal and private is hard. It's not easy to step into a world that's defined by something you can never fully understand. The author does a fantastic job of showing how Lucy grieves.

How math is her safe space...but what happens when new terminology upends all expectations. Bonding is essential in feeling part of a community and to be seen. Lucy does a great job of highlighting the fear, doubt, and more.

School shootings are a part of American student life now. I was reminded of Newtown since the kids in the book were in 3rd grade when one man destroyed so many families. I was in high school when Columbine happened and that was across the country. Yet the book didn't feel exploitative. Raw and honest with a voice that fit Lucy's age and experiences.

Honestly, I recommend this book to anyone trying to communicate with children facing PTSD, grief, and the unknown words on how to find peace with the new normal. Absolutely blew me away. A well-earned 5 Stars for me.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the early copy of this book. As a teacher, this was a very difficult book to listen to, but also one I think is important that we have today which is unfortunate. This book takes place in a town where there was a school shooting 4 years prior. When a Lucy and her family move to town, people are shocked as no one has moved to town since the shooting. What they don't know is Lucy's family is going through a tragedy of their own. Lucy also becomes friends with an unlikely person who is also dealing with the aftermath of the shooting in a very personal way.
Not a spoiler but the title, "AfterMath" also has a connection to the main character's love of math and math jokes. I won't spoil that either!
I think this book would be good for students who are older and students who have experienced shootings in their school, which I hope no one has to use this book for that reason.