Helpful Score: 1
Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com
On September 11th, 2001, nearly 3,000 people lost their lives in numerous acts of terrorism against the United States. Even now, five years later, people still ask the question, "Where were you on 9/11?" I remember watching, on that fateful day, news coverage that left me horrified, aghast, and haunted. Where was I on 9/11? At work, on a day that started out like any other and quickly turned into one that no one will ever forget.
If you asked Tess DeNunzio, the fifteen-year-old girl at the center of DEAR ZOE, where she was on 9/11, she'll be quick to tell you that she was at home with her younger half-sister, Zoe, waiting for the school bus like any other day. Except for that one moment, when she let her gaze wander elsewhere, and Zoe ran into the street, into the path of an oncoming car. For Tess and her family, 9/11 is a day they'll never forget.
DEAR ZOE is Tess's letter to Zoe, her way of healing from her sister's death and coming to terms with the changes that have taken place in her extended family. This isn't a story about September 11th, 2001, in the ways that most of us have come to view that day. As Tess puts it, "...just like all the people who go to New York and cry over the rubble. I want to tell them all to go home. I want to tell them to go home and hold their children or their lovers or their parents. I want to tell them that they are using that place as an excuse to be sad and afraid when there will be reason enough for that in their own lives if they just wait."
According to recent facts, nearly 150,000 people die every day. That's about 1.8 people every second. And yet no one seems to remember the other 147,000 people that died on 9/11. That includes myself. Until reading DEAR ZOE, I had never stopped to consider that there were other people around the world who were grieving for lost loved ones who had nothing to do with an act of terror.
Thanks to Mr. Beard, I now have a new way of looking at that day in history. I also have the story of Tess and Zoe, which will stay with me for much longer than it took for me to read the book. Love, loss, regret, and forgiveness mingle within the pages of DEAR ZOE to form a story that, quite possibly, you'll remember even five years later.
On September 11th, 2001, nearly 3,000 people lost their lives in numerous acts of terrorism against the United States. Even now, five years later, people still ask the question, "Where were you on 9/11?" I remember watching, on that fateful day, news coverage that left me horrified, aghast, and haunted. Where was I on 9/11? At work, on a day that started out like any other and quickly turned into one that no one will ever forget.
If you asked Tess DeNunzio, the fifteen-year-old girl at the center of DEAR ZOE, where she was on 9/11, she'll be quick to tell you that she was at home with her younger half-sister, Zoe, waiting for the school bus like any other day. Except for that one moment, when she let her gaze wander elsewhere, and Zoe ran into the street, into the path of an oncoming car. For Tess and her family, 9/11 is a day they'll never forget.
DEAR ZOE is Tess's letter to Zoe, her way of healing from her sister's death and coming to terms with the changes that have taken place in her extended family. This isn't a story about September 11th, 2001, in the ways that most of us have come to view that day. As Tess puts it, "...just like all the people who go to New York and cry over the rubble. I want to tell them all to go home. I want to tell them to go home and hold their children or their lovers or their parents. I want to tell them that they are using that place as an excuse to be sad and afraid when there will be reason enough for that in their own lives if they just wait."
According to recent facts, nearly 150,000 people die every day. That's about 1.8 people every second. And yet no one seems to remember the other 147,000 people that died on 9/11. That includes myself. Until reading DEAR ZOE, I had never stopped to consider that there were other people around the world who were grieving for lost loved ones who had nothing to do with an act of terror.
Thanks to Mr. Beard, I now have a new way of looking at that day in history. I also have the story of Tess and Zoe, which will stay with me for much longer than it took for me to read the book. Love, loss, regret, and forgiveness mingle within the pages of DEAR ZOE to form a story that, quite possibly, you'll remember even five years later.
I finished this book in a day and a half and was surprised at how moving it was. Very nicely written but sad and sweet.
Although not a very "happy" book, it was neat to read about familiar Pittsburgh places.
This is an excellent story about a teen-ager who grieves for her sister. Little Zoe is killed on 9/11 by an automobile when she runs into the street. While the rest of the world mourns 9/11, Tess and her family mourn Zoe. Tears, bouts of sadness, growing up events and family experiences blend to make a whole. Beard writes the story in the form of letters that Tess writes to Zoe. An entire year passes as Tess learns to cope with her grief. She feels responsible because she was supposed to be watching Zoe so she moves in with her dad who is divorced from her mother. She gets to know her dad, has her first boyfriend, first sexual experience, first job, and first taste of weed. It's sensitive, realistic and emtional - the story not just of Tess coping with grief but of how her family finally comes together to deal with Zoe's death.
4/28/10
Rating: 8
Dear Zoe by: Philip Beard
Dear Zoe is a book about losing someone you love. In the book Tess DeNuzio is writing to her dead sister telling her about her life and how it was effected. Zoe is a sweet little girl that had everything she ever wanted but it all ruined on that one summer day. As Tess was watching her little sister the phone rang and as she went to get it she had no clue what was going to happen. Zoe raced into the street just as a car came flying down the street. The driver did not see Zoe and she got ran over. That day Tess's life changed forever. After Zoe's death the family starts to fall apart. This book is Tess telling Zoe what she is missing. Tess learns more about herself by writing to Zoe and she learns a lot of life lessons.
I loved this book. It makes you empathize for the main character Tess. This book opens your eyes to things that are really important. Anyone can relate to the main character Tess because she lost the one person she loved most. I love Philips way of writing. The way he puts the book in a dairy form is brilliant. I would recommend this book to anyone.
Meghan
Rating: 8
Dear Zoe by: Philip Beard
Dear Zoe is a book about losing someone you love. In the book Tess DeNuzio is writing to her dead sister telling her about her life and how it was effected. Zoe is a sweet little girl that had everything she ever wanted but it all ruined on that one summer day. As Tess was watching her little sister the phone rang and as she went to get it she had no clue what was going to happen. Zoe raced into the street just as a car came flying down the street. The driver did not see Zoe and she got ran over. That day Tess's life changed forever. After Zoe's death the family starts to fall apart. This book is Tess telling Zoe what she is missing. Tess learns more about herself by writing to Zoe and she learns a lot of life lessons.
I loved this book. It makes you empathize for the main character Tess. This book opens your eyes to things that are really important. Anyone can relate to the main character Tess because she lost the one person she loved most. I love Philips way of writing. The way he puts the book in a dairy form is brilliant. I would recommend this book to anyone.
Meghan
How Philip Beard managed to get the voice of Tess just right I'll never know. I'd be surprised if a woman got it that correct, much less a middle-aged man. I expected to like this a little but I was amazed at how into the book I got- I'd recommend it to friends- especially younger ones.
Beard did a fantastic job and I'd read another by him in a minute!
Beard did a fantastic job and I'd read another by him in a minute!
This book was a little slow and a bit depressing. I see where it COULD have been a good book, but the books seemed a little lost...
Wonderful. Sad.
