When eleven-year-old Aubrey’s mother abandons her, it’s another trauma in a year that has brought too many. The facts of the past unfold in bits and pieces in Suzanne LaFleur’s profoundly moving portrait of a child’s grief and first steps toward healing. Aubrey’s dad and sister were killed in a car accident. Her mother’s disappearance is a direct result of the guilt (she was driving) and grief she hasn’t been able to move beyond. Now living with her grandmother, Aubrey’s own sadness and guilt (why did she live when her little sister did not?) come in waves that are unexpected and powerful when they hit. With the safety and security provided by Gran and extended family, Aubrey gradually starts to trust the people around her, from Bridget, the girl who lives next door, to the counselor at her new school. The book’s title refers to Aubrey’s closing lines in the letters she writes throughout the novel to those she’s lost—and in one case finds again. There’s no quick and easy happy ending to LaFleur’s novel, but its gradual movement from despair to hope is achieved with great sensitivity and realism. (Ages 9–13)

"I had everything I needed to run a household: a house, food, and a new family. From now on it would just be me and Sammy–the two of us, and no one else."

A tragic accident has turned eleven-year-old Aubrey’s world upside down. Starting a new life all alone, Aubrey has everything she thinks she needs: SpaghettiOs and Sammy, her new pet fish. She cannot talk about what happened to her. Writing letters is the only thing that feels right to Aubrey, even if no one ever reads them.
With the aid of her loving grandmother and new friends, Aubrey learns that she is not alone, and gradually, she finds the words to express feelings that once seemed impossible to describe. The healing powers of friendship, love, and memory help Aubrey take her first steps toward the future.
Readers will care for Aubrey from page one and will watch her grow until the very end, when she has to make one of the biggest decisions of her life.
Love, Aubrey is devastating, brave, honest, funny, and hopeful, and it introduces a remarkable new writer, Suzanne LaFleur. No matter how old you are, this book is not to be missed.