"The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley" by Shaun David Hutchinson

Reading this for an upcoming conference, I was quite blown away, initially, by very strong, occasionally lyric, writing.  Andrew's story is powerful and the premise fascinating.  The inclusion of cartoons was interesting -- I didn't get most of them, but they increase the appeal for teen readers, I suspect.  Andrew is in his own "five stages" (hence the title) after losing his family.  The path he takes, and the feelings he wrestles with, are hidden in metaphors within a carefully woven tale.  Given the subject matter, it wasn't overly dark.  There is a good deal of light humor, realistic day-to-day living and terrific character descriptions.  There is even love, with a message or two about how making connections is the path to life.  As with all books destined for school shelves, there are questions -- is the language strong?  Yes, so keep this one at high school.  Is religion, which is touched on a good bit, appropriate?  Yes, I believe so.  No one religion is put over another, although various characters embrace or don't embrace it as they feel so compelled.  Religious conversation is natural, I believe, for young people facing death, as it is so "out of sync" with the natural rhythms of the world.  The book is both predictable and not.  While I guessed at some of the back-stories and character motivations, I was truly shocked by one turn I didn't expect.  My only beefs with the novel are, as is often the case, timeline and character age as well as length.  I felt that the book could have wrapped up way earlier, as the last few chapters before the climax seemed circular and didn't add much to the final outcomes.  As to age and timeline, it is made clear on the first page that Andrew is 17.  His reflections seem young for his age, which make sense if the event that took his family happened when he was 14, which is hinted at early on.  Later, however, it is made clear that he was at least 16 when it happened.  And it is never clear as to whether Andrew has been in his current dilemma for a few months or a full year.  It was a distraction in an otherwise good story.  This one will appeal to fans of the now-cancelled "Red Band Society" TV show and John Green's Fault in Our Stars.