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Table of Contents
About The Book
"The book we all need at the time we all need it.” —Katherine Applegate, Newbery Award–winning author of The One and Only Ivan
In this middle grade novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Gayle Forman, a boy who has been assigned to spend his summer volunteering at a senior living facility learns unexpected lessons that change the trajectory of his life.
To say Alex has had it rough is an understatement. His father’s gone, his mother is struggling with mental health issues, and he’s now living with an aunt and uncle who are less than excited to have him. Almost everyone treats him as though he doesn’t matter at all, like he’s nothing.
So when a kid at school actually tells him he’s nothing, Alex snaps, and gets violent. Fortunately, his social worker pulls some strings and gets him a job at a nursing home for the summer rather than being sent to juvie. There, he meets Josey, the 107-year-old Holocaust survivor who stopped bothering to talk years ago, and Maya-Jade, the granddaughter of one of the residents with an overblown sense of importance.
Unlike Alex, Maya-Jade believes that people care about what she thinks, and that she can make a difference. And when Alex and Josey form an unlikely bond, with Josey confiding in him, Alex starts to believe he can make a difference—a good difference—in the world. If he can truly feel he matters, Alex may be able to finally rise to the occasion of his own life.
In this middle grade novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Gayle Forman, a boy who has been assigned to spend his summer volunteering at a senior living facility learns unexpected lessons that change the trajectory of his life.
To say Alex has had it rough is an understatement. His father’s gone, his mother is struggling with mental health issues, and he’s now living with an aunt and uncle who are less than excited to have him. Almost everyone treats him as though he doesn’t matter at all, like he’s nothing.
So when a kid at school actually tells him he’s nothing, Alex snaps, and gets violent. Fortunately, his social worker pulls some strings and gets him a job at a nursing home for the summer rather than being sent to juvie. There, he meets Josey, the 107-year-old Holocaust survivor who stopped bothering to talk years ago, and Maya-Jade, the granddaughter of one of the residents with an overblown sense of importance.
Unlike Alex, Maya-Jade believes that people care about what she thinks, and that she can make a difference. And when Alex and Josey form an unlikely bond, with Josey confiding in him, Alex starts to believe he can make a difference—a good difference—in the world. If he can truly feel he matters, Alex may be able to finally rise to the occasion of his own life.
About The Author
Laina Karavani
Award-winning author and journalist Gayle Forman has written several bestselling novels, including those in the Just One Day series, Where She Went, and the #1 New York Times bestseller If I Stay, which has been translated into more than forty languages and was adapted into a major motion picture. Her first middle grade novel, Frankie & Bug, was a New York Times Best Children’s Book of 2021. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her family.
Product Details
- Publisher: Aladdin (August 27, 2024)
- Length: 288 pages
- ISBN13: 9781665943277
- Ages: 10 - 99
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Raves and Reviews
“Not Nothing is a beautifully-written, poignant, life-affirming gem about ordinary people doing extraordinary things during unimaginable times. Ultimately, it’s a story about stories, those spoken memories handed down from generation to generation that inspire us all to ‘rise to the occasion of our lives’. Bravo, Gayle Forman!”
– —R. J. Palacio, Author of Wonder, White Bird, and Pony
“This stunning, masterfully told story of compassion, forgiveness, and joy is the book we all need at the time we all need it. Profound, heart-healing, and life-changing.”
–Katherine Applegate, Newbery Award-winning author of The One and Only Ivan
“It’s not nothing when a story grabs you from the first line and keeps you turning pages until the last. It’s not nothing when a story (two actually) makes you laugh, cry, worry, wonder, and cry again. It’s not nothing when a book captures your heart, expands your mind, and stays with you long after you’ve reluctantly read the last word.”
– —Deborah Heiligman, award-winning author of Torpedoed: The True Story of the World War II Sinking of "The Children's Ship"
“Not Nothing is a masterpiece. It has so many feelings and moral conundrums and ultra-urgent themes—it should be a community-wide read all over the country. Timely, funny, perfect.”
– —Adam Gidwitz, bestselling author of Newbery Honor Book The Inquisitor's Tale and Max in the House of Spies
“Tenderly layered and beautifully constructed. Forman weaves an intensely moving portrait of stories separated by generations but inextricably connected by the experience of having known love and lost it.”
– —Ruta Sepetys, author of Carnegie Medal-winning Salt to the Sea and international bestseller Between Shades fo Gray
“Beautiful, heart-wrenching, and impossible to put down, Not Nothing is a story about the power of love, hope, and forgiveness.”
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—Sarah Mlynowski, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Whatever After and Best Wishes series
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High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): Not Nothing Hardcover 9781665943277
- Author Photo (jpg): Gayle Forman Laina Karavani(0.1 MB)
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