“This is the hardest story I’ve ever had to tell. Not because I don’t have anything to say, though. And not because I don’t have anything of value to leave behind. It’s the hardest story I’ve ever had to tell because I’m the one who’s been left behind. And there’s no one to read my testament and say, Ellie was my best friend. Or She helped me push my car out of a snowdrift down the road from her house that year we had a freak snowstorm in the middle of April. Or Ellie was my girlfriend, and whenever she saw me, she always kissed me first on the cheek, then on the lips, and in private, when no one else was looking, on the space between my neck and shoulder. That was Ellie Frame. Remember her? She always had as smile ready, even for people who seemed to perpetually scowl at the world.” (1)
The Gone Away Place by
Ellie Frame is the sole surviving member of her graduating class. After a fight with her boyfriend, Noah, she skipped out on the rest of the school-day, which ultimately--and ironically--saved her life. Because, at the same time, a bizarre outbreak of tornadoes hits her small town of Newfoundland, Ohio causing an oil tanker to hit her school building causing an explosion. Traumatized but the type to keep everything in, Ellie can’t handle the extreme sorrow that surrounds her. Her mother forces her to attend some therapy. Her father, an electric company employee, is just trying to survive as he helps rebuild the town. Everything changes as Ellie realizes that she is seeing the ghosts of her classmates who are forcing her to tell their stories. But why isn’t Noah among them?
Ellie is quite a character as without her, the story wouldn’t exist. She lives her life in a form of chosen anonymity which evaporates after the storm when everyone stars to pay attention to her, especially the ghosts. Also, the sense of mourning pervades this book in such a delicate and finely wrought way that it feels very realistic (the second most realistic way of mourning that I’ve ever read and/or seen, the first being the first few episodes of Twin Peaks, but that’s another story). Furthermore, Barzak masterfully allows the ghosts to have a voice. As this is a Young Adult book, some of the more triggering topics--an alcoholic mother for one of the victims, an abusive situation for another--are not so horrifically depicted as it would be in something written for more of an adult audience. So these situations are more digestible for those who may not want to read such topics in such a blatant manner.
In short, this book is an excellent look at grief, mourning, and the harder topics that teens sometimes have to deal with, but done in such a delicate way as to make it nuanced. It is something well worth reading, especially since Barzak is a local to Youngstown author who imbues the book with little nods to the region.
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