Synopses & Reviews
Fourteen-year-old Rachel remembers little about her brother, Jake, except that he died in a car accident when she was seven and he was seventeen. Her parents rarely talk about him, but his presence in the family can be felt and his room has been left untouched. It's by means of Jake's journal that Rachel begins to know her brother and learns that his death was a suicide. With candor and humor, Rachel filters Jake's anguished journal entries through her own experiences - her relationship with her parents and grandmother; the departure of her best friend, Adrian; and her growing involvement with the likable son of family friends who may be as troubled as Jake. In unraveling her family's secret and examining her own shortcomings, Rachel gains sympathy for her parents, realizing that they are all survivors.
Kate Banks explores inner lives with exquisite sensitivity and precision. Sometimes funny, often sad, but painfully true, Walk Softly, Rachel is a story of love, loss, and letting go.
Review
"Pensive, emotionally layered, filled with private grief, Rachel's obsession with Jake becomes her release...Absorbing, powerful, remarkable." --Starred,
Kirkus Reviews"Deftly intertwining poetic excerpts from the diary with Rachel's reflections, the author draws a poignant, painfully honest sketch of a family bearing invisible scars." --Starred, Publishers Weekly
"As in Dillon Dillon (Farrar, 2002), family relationships and love among the living lead to personal growth and a hopeful ending...its effect on the ear and heart is remarkable." --Starred, School Library Journal
Synopsis
From the author of "Dillon Dillon" comes this searing new novel that explores the inner lives of 14-year-old Rachel and her late brother, Jake, with exquisite sensitivity and precision.
About the Author
Kate Banks is the author of
Dillon Dillon and many award-winning picture books, including
And If the Moon Could Talk, a
Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winner;
The Night Worker, winner of the Charlotte Zolotow Award; and
The Bird, the Monkey, and the Snake in the Jungle. She lives in France.