The narrator is monotone for a book with so much potential. I can't get the app to play past the first chapter, so perhaps it gets better. Hopefully there is a printed version I can add to the shelves so the students can create their own narrations.

I really like how AfterMath explores how grief has different effects on people who share the same or similar trauma. I think this book can help young students who have difficulty recognizing and expressing pain come to terms with their grief and/or anxiety. I think this book can also help students develop empathy for their peers who may be grieving behind a smile. I particularly like how the writing style embraces mathematical reasoning with poetry.

Quote:
A square is a regular quadrilateral, which means it has four equal sides and four equal angles.
What happens when a side is gone? Is it still a square?
No.
If a family has four members and one is gone, are we still a family?

...
thanks a lot to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read a copy of this book, to the author as well.

After her brother's death from a congenital heart defect, twelve-year-old Lucy is not prepared to be the new kid at school—especially in a grade full of survivors of a shooting that happened four years ago. Without the shared past that both unites and divides her classmates, Lucy feels isolated and unable to share her family's own loss, which is profoundly different from the trauma of her peers.

Lucy clings to her love of math, which provides the absolute answers she craves. But through budding friendships and an after-school mime class, Lucy discovers that while grief can take many shapes and sadness may feel infinite, love is just as powerful.

An audiobook that while I was working out at the gym, I could see that there are many beautiful things in life, my life, and that reading it made me feel sad. Something that I also went through on my first day in a city that I hadn't studied there for a long time, everything was new.

4.5

.Twelve-year-old Lucy is the new girl in school, and after recently losing her brother to a congenital heart defect, she has a long road of healing ahead of her. The other students in school are no strangers to tragedy as they are all survivors of a recent school shooting.

Lucy copes by clinging to the subject of Math, considering everything with Math is certain in a very uncertain world. With time she is able to make friends, although initially struggling as an outsider among students with such a strong bond over a horrible incident.

It makes me so sad to even think of children who need to deal with similar situations in real life, but unfortunately this book is NEEDED. I hope this becomes a must-read for junior high students, and I would highly recommend it to families dealing with loss.

While fictional, I found the emotions and character development very realistic. Well written and moving.

How sad that this book has to exist.

It’s the story of a young girl whose parents decide it’s time for a change. They’ve recently lost their son (Theo) and need a change of pace. They end up in a community that had recently gone through a school shooting. This leaves their daughter, Lucy, in a very strange position. Her classmates survived a trauma, she’s the odd girl out. She didn’t know the shooter, the victims, or the survivors before it all happened. And somehow her own trauma of losing her brother feels somehow like less of a trauma and not something she can share with people who suffered so much more.

Lucy ends up befriending the school’s biggest outcast, the sister (Avery) of the shooter. But she cannot really open up to Avery because Avery is struggling enough. And Lucy’s parents haven’t figured out how to talk about Theo, or anything else, with their daughter.

Basically, everyone here - child and adult - are just trying to figure out who they are, how to communicate with others, and how to deal with their traumas and grief without feeling like a burden to others.

It’s a tough read, especially when you realize it’s a middle grade book. Well written. A bit of a tearjerker at times, but there’s hope to be found here too.

The narration of the audiobook was very good and fit the book perfectly.

Thank you to Lerner Audiobooks/Lerner Digital and NetGalley for an advanced listening copy of AfterMath by Emily Barth Isler.

After her younger brother dies from a congenital heart condition, 12-year-old Lucy moves to a new town. Her parents think they all need a fresh start. Lucy's new bedroom used to belong to a girl killed in a school shooting - a shooting that happened at her new school. Her classmates are still traumatized by the loss of their fellow students and Lucy doesn't seem to fit in anywhere. She is also grieving, but her loss is so different from that of her classmates. Will she ever be able to make a connection with anyone in her new town?

This story is full of hard things, but kids are tough. Today's kids have been needing a book like this. I'm declaring this one a must-have for all school, public, and classroom libraries (middle grade and middle school).

Thank you to NetGalley and Lerner Audiobooks for the advance audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Lucy is no stranger to loss. She recently lost her little brother to a heart defect, resulting in her parents’ decision to move to another town. The town they choose is one where a school shooting took place a few years earlier, and the house they choose belonged to the family of one of the victims. In fact, Lucy’s new room belonged to the girl who died, and when she starts at her new school, she quickly becomes aware that all of the students who were lost were exactly her age, and many of the survivors are dealing with PTSD. Feeling that her loss is different from theirs, she tells no one about her brother—which fails to make her miss him any less, especially since her parents are still too wrapped up in their own grief to help her.

What keeps her going? Math! And her math teacher. And the mime class her math teacher runs after school. And a new friend, who has her own reasons for not quite fitting in with the other kids.

This book spoke to me on at several levels. I was a classroom teacher when the massacre at Sandy Hook occurred, about an hour away from the school where I taught. I will never forget that day. I was a math geek growing up…okay, maybe I still am…so I really appreciated the math humor and math analogies the author used, and, of course, the title. As a parent…I really felt for Lucy’s parents. The story was both touching and powerful.

I have read a few books about school shootings in recent years—most seemed to focus on the actual event or the immediate aftermath. This one took a look at what the kids, who were in third grade when the shooting happened, might be like as they started seventh grade. I found this to be a unique perspective, especially when paired with a loss of a different kind.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the audiobook was narrated by the author. I do not know whether she has narrated other works, but this was really wonderful. Five stars for the story, five stars for the narration.

Thank you, NetGalley for the audiobook.

Never expected that I will find such a book as AfterMath. It is not your typical story about a young girl who goes to school and struggles with boys, friendships, and strict parents. It is so much more, complex and frankly, very very sad. This book covers death, loss, the importance of therapy (thank you a million times for this), and the need for forgiveness and moving on with your life.

Impressive! I really recommend this book to anyone!

This book is to dark for me I do like the narrator but not the story I usually like a good mind bender but this is just people stuck in tragedy

I loved this book. 12 year old math whiz Lucy moves with her parents to a town which had a school shooting a few years earlier. She lost her brother a year before to a condition he was born with. The story so so well told, dealing with Lucy's struggle to adapt and also her parents and the friends Lucy makes at school. The audio narrator is also brilliant. Highly recommend this for all age groups.

I liked this story. I would have given it 3 stars for enjoyment but the fact that it tackled some tough topics at an appropriate level without feeling like there was an agenda being pushed is going to bump it up to 4 stars for me. In a time when so many challenging things are thrown at our kids I try to be aware of not adding more worries or politics to their lives. I am thankful for the chance to review the pre-release audio book from NetGalley. The narrator was great. It is probably not a story I would have found on my own. My son is listening to it next and I am anxious to see what he thinks of it too.

Wow just wow this book is going to send a powerful message. As a personal who also suffers from mental illness (Anxiety, Depression and PTSD (from childhood abuse)). I felted I connected with this story. I do have to say my sufferings are different then those in this book. But I feel no matter what there needs to be more talk on mental illness. People shouldn't have to hide and keep their feelings to themselves. The way the main character Lucy goes about her life after what she dealt with. To what those kids had to go thru when they are in 3rd grade was very tragic. I wish I could rate this more than 5 stars thats what it needs. I am going to do my part and spread the awareness on Mental Illness and tell my story to also inspire others. This book is my inpiration to finally not be afraid to tell people my story. Thank you Emily Barth Isler I love your work and cant wait to read more of it.

AfterMath was a quick read that covered some difficult topics without ever feeling sad or depressing. Lucy has moved with her parents to a new town after the death of her little brother. She starts at a school with the class of students who were the victims of a school shooting. The book does a fantastic job of showing how everyone deals with grief differently. Besides Lucy's thoughts, we get snapshots of how her parents, classmates, and teachers are all trying to move on from tragedy. Throughout the book, Lucy thinks about situations in mathematical ways and each chapter starts with a math problem. Together, these provide provide a level of symbolism that is a powerful addition to the plot.

This is also a story of friendship. Lucy struggles with losing touch with her friend from back home and the difficult task of making new friends in a middle school where all the students have been bonded by tragedy.

Though listed as Middle Grade, the topics of this book may be difficult for some readers. Despite the tough topics, I believe that this book would be great for anyone to read: middle schoolers, teachers, and families.

After her five-year-old brother Theo's death from a genetic heart defect, math-loving Lucy Rothman and her parents are looking for a new start. But the town they move into is definitely not an escape from tragedy-- in fact, it's the opposite. Four years ago, 27 people were killed in a shooting at the elementary school, and now Lucy has to go to a new school where every other student was present for that trauma. Even Lucy's new bedroom used to belong to a third-grade girl lost to the shooting. Everyone in Queensland, Virginia knew someone who died that day, but Lucy doesn't want to bring up her own loss to any of them.
Enter Mr. Jackson, Lucy's math teacher, who starts an after-school mime class, and Avery, a classmate who is largely ostracized because her half-brother had been the shooter. Mime encourages Lucy, Avery and the rest of the group to express their feelings without using words, but Lucy still wishes her parents would use their words around her and try to acknowledge Theo more.

Avery was definitely my favorite character. She reminded me a lot of the protagonist from the similarly titled "Aftermath" by Kelley Armstrong, but really into fashion and makeup and changing her signature look every so often. She wasn't close to her brother, but still gets treated like a reminder of the shooting, and I really liked seeing Lucy make friends with her and assure her that she didn't deserve any of it.

"Aftermath" is a beautiful middle grade story of trauma and grief, of friendship and love and of a family trying to reunite after a loss in a town that's struggling to live on after it's tragedies.

We follow Lucy as she and her family move into a new town to start fresh after the loss of her baby brother. A town that has endured and suffered through the traumatic events of the mass shootings in their elementary school about four years ago.

Lucy finds it difficult to fit in among her peers who are bonded by the grief and trauma of their shared pasts. Thinking that there was no way she could compare their pain to hers, she turns towards the only other girl who seems as alone as her--the school outcast.

This was a beautiful book filled with wholesome moments and heartwarming relationships of family and friends finding their way back to each other. Aftermath tackles such hard topics and captures it all in a way that makes it real and impactful. Easily the newest addition to my all time favourite middle grade books.

The audiobook narration was fantastic too, immersive in a way that didn't feel robotic. Would definitely recommend you to check it out!!

*Thank you to the Author and/or the publisher and Netgalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review*

Grief. One of the most difficult parts of life and relationships. Understanding it from the 'outside' it probably even more difficult, especially for young people.

Emily Barth Isler has written a beautiful book, so perfectly designed to delicately explore grief and how it can affect us. From the perfect title to the last line on the final page, this book is an inspired story of grief and survival. Isler's own story, which was part of the inspiration for this book, is moving on its own.

Lucy's story of loss, intertwines with that of her new school and the great losses of her classmates. The introduction of Avery and her own layered grief makes us really examine difficult topics from a new perspective.

Even though the target audience for this book is young readers- it has so much for all of us. I felt like it was never too heavy or dark, but instead shines a light on a subject that we all must face. I certainly hope this book is a success. I hope it reaches many people, helps, and touches the lives that need it most.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

𝙍𝙀𝙑𝙄𝙀𝙒

⚠️ TW // death, mentions of a school shooting

AFTERMATH
Author: Emily Barth Isler
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
#gifted audiobook (by @netgalley)

"𝓘 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓮𝓵𝓼𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝓲𝓷𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮. 𝓖𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓯"

𝙎𝙔𝙉𝙊𝙋𝙎𝙄𝙎:
Still reeling from a terrible loss, twelve-year-old Lucy's parents decide to move the family to Queensland, Virginia, and enroll their daughter in the town's school, in a grade full of students who survived a school shooting four years ago.

𝙈𝙔 𝙊𝙋𝙄𝙉𝙄𝙊𝙉:
I don't usually read middle grade books, but the synopsis seemed interesting so this felt like a promising read. (It also contained advanced praise from people such as Amy Schumer, who said that "This book is a gift to the culture").

There are two main themes in this book, Lucy's loss and the school shooting that is mentioned all throughout the book. While everyone else is grieving and still recovering from what happened in their old school, Lucy is dealing with her own loss and with her fellings of it not being important enough in comparison to what her new colleagues have experienced.

I don't know... much, about school shootings so I can't give an opinion on whether Emily Barth Isler approached this topic in a respectful manner or not but in the author's notes she said (this audiobook was narrated by her) that she was inspired by a mass shooting that occurred in 2015 in San Bernardino, California and as a mother of two her own helplessness and fear, as well as the voices of victims of this and other shootings, were her driving force to push forward and write this book.

What really motivated me to read this book was Lucy's story. As someone who suffered a similar loss and struggled (as I still do now) to make sense of it and move on with my life I felt like I truly could relate to her story and to her struggles. In the book Lucy clings to her love of math (I believe there are problems at the beginning of every chapter, and equations are mentioned in the book as well) to help her make sense of the world.

#AfterMath #NetGalley
#books #bookstagram #bookreview #bookstagrammer #booklover #reading

I’m so excited to share my very first @netgalley ARC review! I can’t wait to review more this month!
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One of my favorite books my far in June was “Aftermath” by @emilybarthisler. 12 year old Lucy and her family have moved to a new city hoping to start fresh after a devastating lost. Unfortunately, they move to a city that has experienced loss via a school shooting. Through a love of math and mime, Lucy learns to feel and share her emotions and make new friends.
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This is a middle grade book I listened to via audiobook. As someone who has experienced a school shooting (I was a senior in high school) this story hit very close to home, although my city’s loss thankfully wasn’t as tragic as the one in the story. I truly loved seeing Lucy’s journey learning it’s okay and important to share your feelings. I appreciated seeing her parents growth as well and how tragedy brought the family closer together. I absolutely loved Avery and felt so deeply for her.
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This is Emily’s debut novel and I cannot give it enough praise! It is beautifully written and has such an important message. The characters, from the children to the parents to the teachers, are all so lovable, and genuine character growth is seen throughout the entire book.
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Aftermath comes out September 7, 2021 and I cannot wait to add it to my collection!

The whole time reading through this book, I couldn't help but think about the kids of Columbine, Parkland, and of countless other school shootings the U.S. has suffered through. I liked this book because it's raw and doesn't hold back on what the aftermath of a school shooting looks like. I also liked this book for its depiction of what a grieving family looks like and the necessity of mental health.

I can't honestly comment on the audio portion of this book because NetGalley so often has a robotic voice actor for ARCs that I can't remember if this was a real voice actor on this one or not.

In Aftermath, Lucy has recently lost her younger brother to a congenital heart disease. At the beginning of the book. Lucy and her parents moved to a new town, and the city is recovering from a school shooting. Everyone is going through different stages of grief. Lucy's friendship with Avery, her relationship with her parents, and the counsel from her teacher is sweet. While this is a sad book, it shows grief from the point of view of middle school students, and the sincerity feels realistic. I would recommend this book for middle school classrooms, but it could potentially be triggering for students going through something similar.

The narrator of the audiobook is also realistic, and students will enjoy listening.