Description
Temporarily out of stock
Title: Five Stages of Andrew Brawley, The
Author: HUTCHINSON SHAUN DAVID
Illustrator: LARSEN CHRISTINE (ILL)
Format: PAPERBACK
Publication date: 19/01/2016
Imprint: SIMON PULSE
Price: $22.00
Publishing status: Active
A heartbreaking yet uplifting story about a boy who has lost everything but finds new hope drawing in the shadows of a hospital. Features a thirty-two-page graphic novel. Andrew Brawley was supposed to die that night, just like the rest of his family. Now he lives in the hospital, serving food in the cafeteria, hanging out with the nurses, sleeping in a forgotten supply closet. Drew blends in to near invisibility, hiding from his past, his guilt, and those who are trying to find him. His only solace is in the world of the superhero he s created Patient F. Then, one night, Rusty is wheeled into the ER, half his body burned by hateful classmates. Rusty s agony is like a beacon for Drew, pulling them together through all their pain and grief. In Rusty, Drew sees hope, happiness, and a future for both of them. A future outside of the hospital, and away from their painful pasts. But to save Rusty, Drew will have to confront death, and life might get worse before it gets better. And by telling the truth about who he really is, Drew risks any chance of a future for both of them.”
Kirkus Reviews (11/01/2014):
A homeless, gay teen finds shelter and hope in the hospital where his family perished. Traumatized by their loss, 17-year-old Drew bides his time working in the kitchen of a suburban hospital. He lives in an abandoned wing and slips in and out of the halls and staff-only areas under the pretense that his grandmother is in a coma. He befriends two teens sick with cancer and finds himself opening up and falling for a gay teen admitted into the emergency room after being set on fire in a hate crime. At the same time Drew pens a gruesome comic strip called “Patient F” to exorcise his own demons and guilt; drawn by Larsen, this effectively communicates his interior turmoil, heightening it to near-grotesque levels over the course of the story. Hutchinson builds believable secondary characters and presents unexpectedly fresh plotting and genuine repartee-the conversations among Drew and his two teen friends feel particularly real and are full of insight and humor. Hutchinson has trouble finding Drew’s own voice, however, both in the text and in the comics he draws, especially when he retreats into his own depression (“The hospital is my ocean. I am its Francis Drake”). However, the story resumes its momentum when he encounters other characters. A cautionary twist toward the end may induce eye-rolling. Hutchinson remains an author worth watching. (Fiction. 13-17) COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
School Library Journal (11/01/2014):
Gr 10 Up–Narrator Andrew is a 17-year-old survivor of a terrible car accident that killed his parents and younger sister. He blames himself, is consumed by survivor’s guilt, and is on the run from his life, hiding out in a half-finished wing of the hospital where they died. One night, Rusty, another boy his age, arrives in the ER, the apparent victim of a hate crime, badly burned over much of his body. Andrew begins visiting him late at night, reading first from his own comic, “Patient F”, and then from novels lent to him by the cafeteria manager. The boys come to realize a powerful attraction for one another and Andrew begins to open up to love and forgiveness. The portrayal of his new life is intriguing as readers follow the teen as he works in the cafeteria, makes friends with nurses and patients (particularly two cancer-afflicted teens), and visits and debates with the hospital chaplain, managing to flesh out a supportive shadow community in the absence of his family. The budding romance with Rusty is sensitively portrayed. But the tone through much of the novel is suffocatingly dark, the language cliched and florid. Sentiments such as, “hope is a scam” and “suffering is deserved,” quickly bog down the narrative. Chapters are interspersed with excerpts from Andrew’s comic, which is difficult to follow but even darker than the text and disconcertingly severe. The few sexual references are fairly tame, but repeated violence and dense emotional situations make this title best suited for older teens.–“Bob Hassett, Luther Jackson Middle School, Falls Church, VA” Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Publishers Weekly (11/10/2014):
In this haunting tale of grief and recovery, 17-year-old Andrew Brawley lives like a ghost in the sprawling wings of Roanoke General Hospital, working in the cafeteria, visiting patients, and borrowing what he needs to get by. When he’s not trying to play matchmaker for his friends Lexi and Trevor both battling cancer he’s talking to nurses or working on his comic, Patient F, all while avoiding the tragic circumstances that took his family and left him behind. When Rusty, a boy badly burned by homophobic bullies, enters the hospital, Drew finds the courage to reach out, find love, and confront his deep-rooted guilt and confusion. Hutchinson (fml) takes some liberties with Drew’s unusual day-to-day circumstances, but spins an engrossing story, with Drew’s perceptions lending it an almost surreal, supernatural quality (such as his seeing Death around the hospital and fearing that she’s come for him). The narrative is further developed by violent excerpts from Patient F, skillfully drawn by Larsen, through which Drew tries to exorcise his demons. Ages 14 up. Author’s agent: Amy Boggs, Donald Maass Literary Agency. (Jan.) Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.
Booklist (12/15/2014):
Grades 9-12 Hutchinson’s latest is an unflinching look at loss, grief, and recovery. Seventeen-year-old Drew Brawley has been hiding from death for months in the Florida hospital where the rest of his family died. He passes the time working at the cafeteria and making friends with teen patients in the oncology ward. Drew has been working on a graphic novel, a disturbing story called Patient F that hints at the trauma he has been desperately trying to keep buried. The comic, interspersed throughout the text, provides a visual punctuation mark to Drew’s guilt and self-loathing. When he begins to fall for Rusty, a hate-crime victim admitted to the hospital after having been set on fire, Drew’s resolve to live his life ghosting about the hospital begins to waver. Dark and frequently grim situations are lightened by realistic dialogue and genuineness of feeling. The rapid-fire back-and-forth snark between Drew and his hospital family rings true, and the mystery of Drew’s past will keep readers turning the pages. This is a heartbreaking yet ultimately hopeful work from a writer to watch.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)
Voice of Youth Advocates (02/01/2015):
Drew has not left Roanoke General Hospital since the night his parents and little sister died there. He was driving the family car when the accident happened and is now haunted by guilt. He secretly sleeps in a closed-off wing of the hospital, works (under the table) in the cafeteria, and compulsively draws the exploits of a Frankenstein-like character called “Patient F,” whose mission is to preserve his loved ones’ lives at all costs. Drew’s only social contacts are with the nursing staff and two teenaged cancer patients. He simultaneously stalks and flees a hospital social worker whom he sees as Death in disguise, threatening his friends. Then a patient named Rusty arrives in the ER with severe burns, and suddenly Drew has a reason to live. Can he love someone without attracting Death’s attention? Could he and Rusty have a future together?
There is some deep philosophical thinking going on here. Drew and his friends debate questions of faith, love, guilt, and the advantages and disadvantages of dying. The included graphic novel of Patient F, which illustrates Drew’s struggles, may attract fans of the format but is sometimes hard to follow. That Drew and Rusty are gay adds another layer of complexity. All of this means a pretty heavy story that probably will not attract a wide readership, but for those struggling with issues of doubt or identity, reading it could be a powerful, affirming experience. The final chapter continues Drew and Rusty’s story into adulthood, adding a welcome note of hope.—Kathleen Beck.3Q 2P J S
ISBN: 9781481403115
Weight: 272g
Dimension: 208mm X 140mm
Pages: 320