That’s too bad. How horrible. I am so sorry for your loss. These are all empty platitudes when they come from strangers, and they mean even less coming from family. In Sorry for Your Loss, written by Printz Honor-winning author Jessie Ann Foley, 16-year-old Pup Flanagan is devastated after the loss of his older brother, Patrick, and he cannot understand why no one in his family seems to care enough to even mention Patrick’s name. Not that anyone really notices Pup anyway—as the youngest of eight siblings, and one of 27 immediate family members who live in the same town and always gather for Sunday dinner, he is used to being forgotten.
Pup is also not doing well at school. He’s struggling in his classes and is about to fail art. Who fails art? Pup’s teacher gives him one final chance in the form of a photography project. A chance encounter with Luke, his older brother who is starting to drink too much, allows Pup to start seeing his family through a different lens—the camera’s lens. As Pup’s art teacher begins to see his potential and when Pup befriends Abrihet—an immigrant girl with a passion for photography who is experiencing her own loss—Pup begins to realize that everyone is dealing with their sorrows in their own way.
Sorry for Your Loss explores grief, friendship, love, heartbreak and unity among families who are with you for better or worse. Woven throughout with Pup’s irreverent humor, this book never becomes too bleak or heavy, even with the difficult themes it explores.
