Somewhere Between Life and Death [Mass Market Paperback]

Lurlene McDaniel (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

The celebration isn't supposed to end in tragedy. The night of their high-school drama group's cast party starts out as fun for sisters Amy and Erin.
Their lives come crashing down when Amy takes the car to get more food and has a horrible accident. Erin and her family pray for Amy to awaken from her coma. But as the monitor bleeps and the respirator hisses, Amy lies somewhere between life and death.
Erin and her parents must find the courage to accept the fact that Amy's life-support system will never bring her back. When she dies, can the family give some meaning to her senseless death? Can Amy's dying become the hope for someone else's living?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This pair of novels is intended to be a compassionate, helpful portrait of a family coming to terms with the loss of a loved one. But because the family depicted is so bland, and the course of their grief so tritely charted, the end result resembles the case histories found in mawkish self-help books. Perfectionist Erin is often infuriated by her easygoing younger sister Amy. But when a near-fatal car accident leaves Amy comatose, the distraught Erin is unable to face the idea of turning off her sister's life-support system and donating her organs to science. Only after lashing out at everyone who does not seem properly grief-stricken is Erin finally able to accept her sister's death. But the saccharine saga does not end here: the second volume picks up the thread of the story a year after Amy's death. Though Erin has done her best to return to a normal life, she is plagued by debilitating headaches--the product of unresolved mourning and newly arisen family tensions. A cliche-spouting family therapist and a goofy would-be boyfriend lead Erin through numerous predictable confrontations with her feelings. These forgettable, lightweight novels have no place among the many wonderful books that offer young readers an authentic vision of what it means to love and lose. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9-- McDaniel offers two unique, well-crafted novels about the death of a teenage sibling. In Somewhere . . ., Erin lends her car to her younger sister, Amy, who has just gotten her driver's license. The inevitable horrid accident occurs, leaving Amy comatose, and the family decides to turn off her life-support system. Time to Let Go is the story of her family's recovery as each deals with the tragedy separately. A worthy message is incorporated into both novels: people's ability to surmount horrible happenings varies dramatically. --Alice Cronin, Mountainside Public Library, NJ
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf (December 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553283499
• ISBN-13: 978-0553283495
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,373,375 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lurlene McDaniel is known for her poignant inspirational novels. She lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book, November 17, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Somewhere Between Life and Death (Mass Market Paperback)

I've read many books of lurlene mcdaniel and they were all great.This was also a great book, they're all tear jekers though I cry reading almst all of them including this one it was very sad. It's about these sisters and when they have this party after there dance performance, and when they run out of sodas and amy goes to go get some she gets into an accident her older sister erin thinks nothing of it cause amys always late. But aftera few hours she begins to get worried and learns her sister was in an accident and after about a month they pronounce her brain dead but erin keeps hope and learns that amys boyfriend is totally forgetting abut her erin gets upset and confronts him. When finally they take amy into surgery to remove her organs. It tells about a story of how the family grieves over a person they greatly loved. A GREAT BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great!, January 4, 2004

By 

Erin (PA,USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Somewhere Between Life and Death (Mass Market Paperback)

It was an excellent book. I loved it! It was my first Lurlene McDaniel book, and it inspired me to read more of her books.I also love sad endings because none of those happy endings are real.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, February 19, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Somewhere Between Life and Death (Mass Market Paperback)

THIS BOOK WAS THE BEST!!!!! LURENE MCDANIEL IS MY FAVORITE AUTHOR! THIS BOOK MADE ME CRY SOOOOO MUCH I ACTULLY HAD TO STOP READING IT!!! I HAD TO CALM MYSELF DOWN TO FINISH IT!!! I LOVED IT!!! I COULD READ IT A MILLION OF TIMES!!! IT WAS SOOO EMOTIONAL!!! ALL OF HER BOOKS ARE GOOD, BUT THIS ONE IS THE BEST!!! I SUGGEST YOU BUY IT AND READ IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!