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“A Beginner’s Guide to Goodbye” by Melanie Mosher was an incredibly tender and deeply emotional read. The beauty of the writing was soft but powerful, carrying immense weight in just a few words.

We follow Laney, a ten-year-old girl who is completely swallowed by guilt and sorrow after the sudden death of her sister, Jenny. The guilt wraps around her like a second skin, and so she writes letters to her sister instead of speaking aloud. The way the author crafted Laney’s inner world felt so raw and intimate, like reading a diary written with invisible ink only grief could reveal. It wasn’t only Laney who went silent after the death of Jenny. Her mother shuts down completely, her father throws himself into work to avoid the truth. Her older sister turns cold and bossy, trying to hold things together through control. What the author captures so beautifully is how everyone grieves differently, and how loss can make strangers out of people who used to feel like home. But what truly gave the story life was the unexpected friendship between Laney and her neighbor, Miss Lucy, who is also dealing with her own kind of grief. Through connecting, communicating, and healing with Miss Lucy, Laney finds a way to accept and face the day.

I loved how Melanie Mosher portrayed Laney’s growth. Laney learns to speak again to her family and to the memory of her sister, like grief is a language they were trying to relearn. She begins to understand that saying goodbye doesn’t mean forgetting someone. It just means learning how to carry them with you differently.

I recommend “A Beginner’s Guide to Goodbye” by Melanie Mosher to anyone who has ever felt the ache of loss or the fear of moving forward. It’s not just a story about death; it’s a story about what comes after. About how love doesn’t disappear, even when people do. This book will allow space for hurt, for silence, and for moments of courage.

This book came about during the global pandemic when author Sheree Fitch was sharing her written works, on Instagram, as a way to navigate the unprecedented times. On April 20th 2020, upon hearing the full story of the tragic mass shooting that unfolded nearby in Portapique, Nova Scotia, she thought of all affected, and the heartbreak of what parents would say to their children and came up with this poem.

This poem, despite its brevity, tugs at readers’ heartstrings. I could feel the weight of every word. At the end of the book, the author included a note where she mentions how the words flowed through her from the affected children. It made me consider how the child addressed in the poem could also symbolize the inner child inside all of us. The poem was powerful and heartfelt. It reminded me of a quote I came across before about grief that said something along the lines of how lucky we are to have something we miss so badly.

I’m not surprised that this poem was embraced by Nova Scotians and other supporters. It really speaks to the soul. I really love how the seeming simplicity of the poem was paired with beautiful, yet also simple, line drawings. The book was just brought together wonderfully, making it a beautifully sincere tribute to the victims of that tragedy.

This touching poem is great for all ages. I recommend this short, yet very meaningful read. It’s perfect for anyone looking for solace at a time of grief.

I rate this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars

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Sometimes I come across books that are difficult to write reviews for. Not for any negative reason, just the fact that I spend so much time carefully choosing the words I want to use and finding a way to say what I want to say. To try and sum up such an impactful story in just a few paragraphs can be hard. This was one of those books.

“In the Arms of Inup” is the story of Jeremias, who is a survivor of the Guatemalan civil war that escaped to Canada. His story is told in this book by author Eve Mills Allen, who is a mental health therapist and survivor herself.

For starters : I could not imagine going through horrific atrocities, witnessing senseless and crazy violence, and having to overturn my life completely. But then, on top of that, moving to a completely foreign country with different customs and ways of living, and having to work harder than I ever have to live and thrive in this new country. The amount of strength it takes a person to do all this, and then on top of that have the courage to share with the world so others don’t feel so alone, whilst also helping yourself and your family heal? I just couldn’t imagine.

Something I like about this book is that though Eve is writing it, it is Jeremias words, and the bulk of the text is words directly from Jeremias. This story is such a heartbreaking story. To me, I feel as though the combination of Jeremias’ tellings and Eve’s writing is the best way for this book to be written. The fact that Eve is a mental health therapist and a survivor herself makes so much sense for her to have authored this, and for Jeremias to have someone he trusted to write this story makes it all the more worth the read.