Sweet, Hereafter

January 1, 2010
Gr 9 Up-In this final book in the trilogy, Johnson returns to Heaven, OH, where Sweet, aka Shoogy, leaves home without a plan. Sometimes she drives by her house and thinks about her family, but she never misses the confines or the rules. When her truck runs out of gas and Curtis, who used to live next door, offers her a few gallons to get home, she feels sure that she is homewith him. From that point, they live simply together in his cabin in the woods. Sweet attends school and works part time. Curtis goes to college, is in the reserves, and has nightmares he doesn't want to discuss. Then the army comes calling for him and he takes off, unable to stand the thought of returning to Iraq, resulting in a tragedy. Conversations about relationships and war are sure to follow the reading of this engrossing novel. While teens will appreciate the inclusion of characters from the earlier books, this one can stand on its own. Johnson does a good job of creating a love story that will attract teen girls, but because of the army aspect, boys will be interested as well."Emily Garrett Cassady, North Garland High School, Garland, TX"

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2009
Grades 8-11 Multiple awardwinning author Johnson concludes the trilogy that began with Heaven (1998) and The First Part Last (2003) with this heartbreaking title narrated by Shoogy Maple, a beautiful African American teen who has cameo roles in Johnsons previous books. After leaving home for reasons fiercely felt but difficult to define, Shoogy moves into a woodland cabin with Curtis, who has returned to Heaven, Ohio, after a tour of duty in Iraq. There, in the quiet, the two young people fall in love (although sex is never described) as they work through their own complicated, private grief. From the first scene, which alludes to the books closing tragedy, Shoogy prefers to hint at the events and people who shape her world, and readers, especially those encountering these characters for the first time, may feel lost. Shoogys reluctance to spell everything out, though, feels deeply true to her character, and Johnsons stripped-down, poetic prose is filled with shattering emotional truths about wars incalculable devastation, loves mysteries, and the bewildering, necessary search for happiness.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2010
Alienated from family and school, teenaged Sweet moves into a cabin in the woods inhabited by a young man recently returned from serving in Iraq. He and Sweet both find healing in their shared sanctuary. Readers will appreciate Sweet's clear, defiant voice and her steadfast commitment to her own truth. Johnson's latest is loosely tied to The First Part Last and Heaven.

(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

March 1, 2010
Teenaged Sweet has little in common with her classmates -- or with most young-adult literary heroines. Alienated from family and school, she has switched to a vocational track that allows her to work most of the day, and she's moved out of her parents' home into a cabin in the woods inhabited by a nearly silent young man whom at first she barely knows. He has recently returned from military service in Iraq, and he and Sweet both find healing in their shared sanctuary. But the specter of war cannot be shut out for long. It imposes itself inexorably and tragically, so that the novel ends in an anguished _cry for peace. Readers will appreciate Sweet's clear, defiant voice and her steadfast commitment to her own truth. Her process of self-discovery -- which often carries her from certainty to doubt -- is tender and believable, and each short chapter adds a compelling sketch of loyalty, or love, or loss. This sketchbook effect leaves many gaps and questions, though, and at times it is difficult to determine how the characters and ideas fit together. Loosely tied to her earlier novels The First Part Last (rev. 7/03) and Heaven, Johnson's latest continues her movement toward nonlinear, impressionistic narrative.

(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)