See You At Harry’s

See You At Harry’s written by Jo Knowles is a beautiful story filled with the complexities of middle school.  Fern feels invisible at the age of 12 when her older siblings are beginning to distance themselves from childish games and her younger brother will not stop bothering her.  Fern feels that her parents are more focused on the family restaurant and restoring their inner peace than taking care of the family.  Only her best friends, Ran, is able to help her navigate middle school and her family – until the unthinkable happens, something that tears her family apart at the seams and Fern fears that her world will never be the same again.

This is a well-developed story with characters that seem very real for today’s world.  Fern’s older brother, Holden, is struggling with his identity as a gay teenager, her older sister, Sarah, failed to get into college and is now living at home working in the family restaurant and her younger brother Charlie, who is only three, happens to be a pain in the butt, according to Fern.  One of my favorite parts about the story is that all of the family’s children are named after characters in children’s literature. This is definitely a story in which you need a box of tissues at hand, because when tragedy strikes, the reader can truly feel the heartbreak within the family.

This is a beautifully written book about the power of a family’s love in the face of tragedy and even in everyday life.  Check out Jo Knowles’s author page!

Title: See You At Harry’s
Author: Jo Knowles
Publisher: Candlewick
Publication Date: 2012
Page Number: 310 pgs.