Dear Edward

Genre: Fiction

This is the story of Eddie, a twelve-year-old boy when we first meet him, on a flight from New York to LA. Eddie, along with his mother, brother and father, are moving to the warm West Coast. Their plane crashes, and along with 181 other passengers, the family dies. All, except for Edward. Edward, as he is known in his new life, is the sole survivor. Edward moves in with his mother's sister, Stacey, and her husband, John, and befriends their next door neighbor's daughter, Shay. Throughout, Edward tries to figure out life without his family. Written alternately from Edward's current life, and what happened on the plane that fateful day, the story focuses on several of the passengers and their lives. We learn how the plane crashed and the reasons for Edward's survival. This is a story of learning to survive the most tragic of losses and finding a new normal in the midst of it all.

I've recently made a sincere effort to adopt the serenity prayer as my truth, "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference". I say a lot of, "It is what it is" in regards to circumstances over which I have no control (think corona virus outbreak). So much so, that my family has started saying things like, "Just like Abby says, 'It is what it is'". There's a certain level of peace that comes with this new acceptance. Knowing that I can't change some circumstances, but that I can change my thoughts and feelings around those circumstances, has given me a sense of control.

But, while the "It is what it is" approach to life might be effective, and even life-changing, it's not the approach one should take in telling stories. Other than the plane crash, nothing in this boy's life, other than the passing of time, some letters, and one or two individuals who help him through, is noteworthy. There was no "aha moment" or some interesting turn of events that help Edward deal with his loss. Rather, it's the passing of time that ultimately heals him, if such a healing can ever happen after such a loss. That said, there are some interesting things about this book, like some of the characters we meet on the plane are quirky and interesting. I really like the idea of learning about the characters through a specific moment in time. I also kept asking myself why the author chose to keep Edward alive (knowing that this story is influenced by a true life experience of a 2010 flight that crashed where a nine year old boy survived) and not say, the mom, who was sitting away from her family, in first class. That would have made for an interesting storyline. I also think the themes of friendship, giving and sharing are all great themes, Ultimately, the story itself was interesting enough, but I'm not sure the author wrote about any of the characters in a particularly compelling way.