As a writer, I recognize how Kokie did a fantastic job of pulling the reader into the story by putting us right into an emotional situation, giving hints of Matt's life, like his friend, Shauna, his dad, his brother, other students in the school.

That's what really gripped me and pulled me in the most. In the beginning, there are several chances to stop and infer, to gather the clues and piece together what is going on in Matt's life. I was immediately drawn into his story.curious and searching for bits and pieces to get a clear picture of what was going on in his life. He is definitely a character that I wanted to know and understand right away. I love how Kokie brings the main character, Matt, to life. Poorcraft by C.What Jen Thinks: For me, Personal Effects was a book that I put down and had to marvel at all that it holds within its pages. We've Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children's Ma. This book will be available on September 11th, 2012. My thanks to the good people at Candlewick for the review copy.

It will stay with you long after you've put the book down. Matt's voice throughout the book is authentic and heartbreakingly real (and, I should point out, somewhat profane, but I found that to be entirely in keeping with the character). He finds out a lot about himself even as he learns the truth about his brother's past.Ī phenomenal read, this book rings true on many levels - what it is like to work through loss and grief, what it's like when you learn things about people you thought you already knew - things that challenge your certainty. Questions that cause Matt to stand up to his dad, and to undertake a quest, of sorts, to find out the answers. And questions about T.J., especially after Matt gets a look at some of the stuff inside T.J.'s foot lockers. Questions about himself and his future, about dealing with his father, about dealing with Shauna. Speaking of questions, Matt has a lot of them. He was killed in Iraq, his injuries so bad that a viewing was out of the question. What you don't learn in the first couple of chapters, though it's given away on the flap copy, is that T.J. A hard-hitting bully with an alcohol problem. And he's left alone to deal with his father, who has turned out to be a bully. He can't help but compare himself to his older brother T.J., who enlisted in the Army. He's struggling with feelings for his friend Shauna, whom he'd like to be something more. (And boy, does he have a lot of anger to go around.) There are kids at school constantly baiting him with their anti-military talk. It's clear from the first chapter that he's got a problem dealing with anger. And, like many kids who are trying to figure out how to grow up and what, exactly, that means, he's got issues. Matt Foster is a 17-year old junior in high school.

Personal effects by em kokie