I feel like this book is just very disconnected and lacking in a lot of ways. The narrative format is interesting: 100 chapters made of 100 words each, but I don’t see how that helped the story along or added anything. The plot has quite a bit happening, as teenage Will deals with the aftermath of some terrible things that have happened to his family and best friend. But at the same time, I don’t think either issue was explored well, originally, or in a way that personally made me stop and think.
I feel sympathetic towards Will, and his friend Playa, but that’s about it. I just don’t feel moved by anything that happened, or affected by any of the vignettes of other characters. All in all, “What I Left Behind” felt very needlessly repetitive and cropped in a way that didn’t help the narrative. ( )

teen fiction (diverse characters coping with tragedy in an urban/working class setting- loss of dad to suicide, trying to figure out how to support his friend having been raped at a party)

short chapters almost make this a novel in verse, but thankfully it's not (unless you are a legendary spoken word poet like Elizabeth Acevedo, please do not attempt this). The story is partly told through what Will doesn't say, making it even more resonant and powerful. There also isn't a lot of wasted words--each paragraph moves the character and his story forward--even though the jacket blurb seems to indicate he spends a lot of time walking endlessly around his city, the text focuses on the people he encounters on his journey instead of detailing his footsteps from place to place to place (see, you are getting bored just thinking about that tediousness). It's actually very well done.

Other than occasionally wanting to shout at Will to just use the recipe printed on the side of the cornmeal box rather than trying to recreate a cornbread recipe from fragmented memories, I really liked this book and enjoyed spending time with this thoughtful, caring boy. He isn't perfect, but we could all learn a lot from his choices. It's also a really beautiful, diverse cover. Thank you. ( )

Will 16 urteko gazte bat da. Gertakari latz baten ondoren, hasi zen paseo luzeak egiten Los Angeleseko kaleetan zehar. Ibiltzen den bitartean, Willi bere bizitzako une jakin batzuk etortzen zaizkio gogora, atzean utzi nahiko lituzkeen arren.

Dena pikutara joan baino lehenagoko lekuetatik aldentzen da, oroitzapen tristez beteta daudelako. Baina unibertsoak ustekabeko norabide-aldaketak ekarriko dizkionean, Willek toki horietara hurbiltzen hastea erabakiko du.

Alison McGhee, hainbat sari eta salmenta handiko lanak lortu ondoren, bere atsekabea gainditzen saiatzen den mutiko baten istorioarekin datorkigu. Liburu eder hau, ehun hitzeko ehun kapitulu ederretan dago kontatuta.

"What do I say? Playa is a ghost girl and I'm a ghost boy and the little white gift bag is a ghost gift and we're sitting on the top stop in the dark, ghosts all around us." p. 189

Will walks to deal with his feelings, despair, anger, sadness, confusion, guilt, and abandonment. He's not willing to leave others behind; he cares for his employer, Major Tom, finding ways to make him feel "hip" and included. He leaves little gifts for his friend Playa, who is going to need to be tough. He also leaves a gift or two for the boy who lives on his path to work, "Little Butterfly Dude." Will even gives his cornbread trials to Superman, a homeless man near his walking path. Each of these people are like Will, they are adrift and need an anchor. Will's empathy is a powerful example of what one can do even when one feels like there is nothing much left.

This is a short read--there is text on only the right hand pages. The left have Chinese characters on them. Will talks about the Blessings store, so I wanted to think that that is what they are.
( )

I wasn't sure what to make of it at first. I mean, honestly, it had its own rhythm...neither story nor poem, and yet with SO MUCH to share. Once I was on the same page with Will, his story became a sum of many parts and things started to get heart-stoppingly real.

I think everyone will read a little something different into the story. The way it's told, how their lives are revealed, seems to lend a certain angular perspective to everything, allowing readers to catch whichever side reveals itself most clearly. To me, it was an ode to life and the misfortunes and smiles it brings. It was a glimpse at the small things we do, the interactions we have, that may seem meaningless in the moment, but have the power to transform another heart. It was about how the simple act of walking, of losing yourself in the right, left, right pattern we pound out on the pavement every day, can bring us peace, a time to reflect on what's happening in our lives and the lives of those we love, and answers...but it can also help us strip away all the funk that tries to drag us down.

For me, it felt like a reminder that everyone goes through things in life...some much harder/harsher than others...but we're never truly alone in the struggle nor the recovery. The simple way it was illustrated allowed the unique format to deliver a story that was deceptively deep, and anything but forgettable. Recommended for teen readers and beyond both to further the enjoyment of the story structure as well as the subject matters broached.


**copy received for review ( )