Thing About Jellyfish (Benjamin)

The Thing About Jellyfish 
Ali Benjamin, 2015
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780316380867


Summary
Benjamin's first solo novel has appeal well beyond a middle school audience (Kirkus Reviews).

Grief can open the world in magical ways.

After her best friend dies in a drowning accident, Suzy is convinced that the true cause of the tragedy was a rare jellyfish sting.

Retreating into a silent world of imagination, she crafts a plan to prove her theory—even if it means traveling the globe, alone. Suzy's achingly heartfelt journey explores life, death, the astonishing wonder of the universe...and the potential for love and hope right next door. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
Her own words—
I’ve written about astrophysicists and athletes, cosmologists and Arctic conservators, geologists and psychologists and farmers and awesome children. What I enjoy, above all, is telling a good story. This world of ours is complex, but it’s filled with plenty of wonder and sparkle.

I am the author of The Thing About Jellyfish (2015), as well as the co-author of three other books: Tim Howard’s The Keeper (2014), both the adult and young readers’ editions; Paige Rawl’s Positive (2014), a coming-of-age memoir, which was a Junior Library Guild selection and the first-ever nonfiction selection for The Today Show book club; and, with Beth Bader, The Cleaner Plate Club (2010).

I’m currently at work on 200 Million Miles, a novel about people on Earth dreaming of Mars, to be published in 2016

In addition to the books I’ve written, I’ve also written for the Boston Globe Magazine, Martha Stewart’s Whole Living Online, and I was the sole story researcher/casting director for the hour-long primetime special, Sesame Street: Growing Hope Against Hunger, which won a 2012 Emmy Award. (From the author's website.)

Book Reviews
[H]eartfelt and fascinating…Benjamin explores the heartbreaking subject of grief in the young with dreamy, meditative and elegiac prose. She successfully captures the anxieties of middle school through Suzy's confusion and pain…The dedication of The Thing About Jellyfish reads, "For curious kids everywhere." It could also read, "For all those kids who need a gentle nudge to look closer at nature and science." Or perhaps, "For grieving kids who are struggling to come to terms with their losses, and seeking a path to peace and conciliation." There are, in other words, a lot of children who might not only benefit from this book but also find themselves deeply moved by it.
Jacqueline Kelly - New York Times Book Review


(Starred review.) [A] moving portrayal of loss and healing.... 12-year-old Suzy channels the conflicting emotions surrounding Franny’s drowning death into silence.... Benjamin’s novel is a shining example of the highs and lows of early adolescence, as well as a testament to the grandeur of the natural world (ages 8–12).
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review.) With elegant prose, the author captures the voice of a brilliant but lonely twelve-year-old girl struggling with loss.... This novel has it all: just-right pacing, authentic voices and characters, beautifully crafted plot, and superb writing (ages 11 to 18).
VOYA


Suzy's best friend, Franny Jackson, was a strong swimmer. There is no way she could have drowned, at least in Suzy's mind. Suzy's determined search for a different explanation for her friend's death leads her to believe that Franny was stung by an Irukandji jellyfish.... [A] superbly written, heartfelt novel (grades 4-7).  —Juliet Morefield, Multnomah County Library, OR
School Library Journal


(Starred review.) Benjamin's involving novel features clean, fluid writing that is highly accessible, yet rich with possibilities for discussion.... Her highly individual, first-person narrative makes compelling reading.... An uncommonly fine first novel.
Booklist


(Starred review.) Surrounded by the cruelty of adolescence, Zu is awkward, smart, methodical, and driven by sadness. She eventually follows her research far beyond the middle school norm, because "Sometimes things just happen" is not an explanation.... A painful story smartly told (ages 12 & up).
Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions
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