After Ever After

Jeff is a teen in remission. Even though cancer should be far behind him, Jeff still worries that it will return. He has got normal teen stuff to deal with, too - friends, parents, girls, school. Normally, he would ask his older brother, Steven, for advice. But Steven, always the trusty, responsible one, is finally rebelling and has taken off to Africa to join a drumming circle and "find himself." Jeff feels abandoned. Meanwhile, his best friend, Tad, is hatching some kind of secretive, crazy plan involving eighth-grade graduation. He gets a letter in the mail that says he must pass the test or else he'll get held back. And Lindsey Abraham, away from a hot girl who is new to the school, thinks Jeff is cute . . . which totally freaks him out and they become close friends. There is a lot about life that cancer has prepared Jeff, but there is a lot that is brand-new. Now it is time for him to learn not only how to fight for himself but to stick up for the people he loves. However, in the end, he has to prepare to let go of some of his memories and accept the meaning of death.

Jeff has brain damage and cannot remember intricate things such as math rules, and the state just passed a law that every eighth-grader has to take a standardized end-of-grade test and pass in order to be able to graduate. His friend Thaddeus (Tad) needs a wheelchair to move, so Jeff and Tad make a deal, which was letting Tad tutor Jeff, while Tad exercises to be able to walk across the stage at graduation.

The year passes, and Tad has cancer again. Tad will be unable to be at the school during graduation because he will be in the hospital. Jeff reacts by hosting a bike-a-thon to make Tad feel cared about. The bike-a-thon starts out smoothly, but when it ended, Jeff's mother tells him that right after he started riding, Tad went into sudden liver failure, and died soon after.

The story ends with Jeff passing the tests, at graduation, and accepting both his and Tad's diplomas. In the epilogue, he is at Tad's headstone, having a "conversation" with him. His girlfriend Lindsey walks up to him, and they walk away, together holding hands.

Critical reception to After Ever After has been positive, with Publishers Weekly praising the book's "emotional highs and lows".[2] Kirkus Reviews and Booklist both positively reviewed the book,[3] with Kirkus writing that "this stand-alone tween narrative slots neatly into the space between the author’s YA and J titles, sensitively dealing with issues of family, friendship and death in a way that will appeal to middle-grade students".[4] Teen Reads commented on the book's continuation of the story from Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, stating that the book "provides that extra insight into the ongoing battle that is known as life".[1] The School Library Journal commented on the book, saying "Sonnenblick’s intimate first-person tale of survival is a solid stand-alone novel that will leave an emotional, uplifting imprint on readers."[5]

• Official author page