Dear Edward

“I used to have this crazy idea…” He pauses. “And I guess I still do, that as long as I stay on the ground, the plane will stay in the sky. It’ll keep flying on its normal route to Los Angeles, and I’m its counterweight. They’re all alive up there, as long as I’m alive down here.”

– Ann Napolitano, “Dear Edward”

This is one of those books I found myself ripping through in just a few days. “Dear Edward” was gifted to me this past Christmas, and I was unsure if it would be my cup of tea. But I enjoyed this light, sweet, YA coming-of-age story in sad and surreal circumstances.

Twelve-year-old Edward Adler is the sole survivor of the 191 passengers aboard flight 2977 from Newark to Los Angeles. He was sitting together with his father and brother, contemplating their relocation to LA for Eddie's mother's new TV-writing job. Meanwhile, Jane Adler, Eddie's mom, finishes rewrites to a terrible script alone in first class.

The passengers on flight 2977 include a Forbes richest person, a coked-out business jag-off, a gorgeous flight attendant, a soldier returning from war to ride a desk, a fascinating woo-woo woman in a skirt with bells on it, and a woman who just found out she's pregnant and is hoping her boyfriend will propose when they land.

The novel shifts back and forth—jumping into the passengers' minds during the long flight and following Edward after the crash as he learns to live his new life.

After moving in with his Aunt and Uncle in Jersey, Eddie (who now goes by Edward) cleaves to a neighbor girl his age—Shay. Edward and Shay develop a deep bond that gives him a solid foundation to rebuild his shattered life.

It’s a light read. I found the characters were more interesting than the plot—although some characters are more developed than others (I never entirely understood Uncle John and Aunt Lacey—their marriage seems...singular). The scenes are warm, like a Hallmark movie, and (at times) a bit saccharine. Nevertheless, I found myself persuaded to devour this book—it was a good and touching read.

Plus, I loved the random TILs sprinkled throughout:

• Airplanes mix 50/50 air from the cabin and outside and then pass it through filters before it comes back through the vents.
• The first flying machines—the ones where people strapped wings to their arms to flap—were called "ornithopters."
• Pierre de Fermat's "little theorem" from 1640 helped build the basis of RSA encryption.

Récit de lecture, comme une valse à quatre temps :

1) Le résumé m'a tout de suite donné envie de lire ce roman : Edward, un garçon de douze ans, est le seul survivant du crash d'un avion qui a fait 191 victimes, dont ses parents et son frère aîné.

2) Le début m'a bien plu : pas de mélo, mais une délicatesse dans l'expression des émotions, avec une pudeur bienvenue

3) La suite m'a parfois semblé un peu longue, avec des passages un peu convenus et peut-être un peu moins de finesse dans le récit

4) La fin m'a captivé et ému. J'avais même la chair de poule en lisant certains passages.

Je ne dirais pas que c'est un livre parfait, je pourrais lui reprocher une écriture parfois formatée comme on le voit souvent dans les romans américains, mais c'est très efficace. Le résultat est redoutable : un récit prenant, puissant, que l'on referme à regret.