Don't Ask If I'm Okay

March 1, 2023
A small-town Idaho teenager in mourning must find the courage to reveal his pain and ask for help. One year after surviving the car accident that killed Hunter, his cousin and best friend, recent high school graduate Gage is hiding his nightmares and panic attacks. His belief that everyone else is dealing better with grief, combined with pressure from his dad to be a rock for his family, convinces Gage that he must pretend to be OK. Aunt Gina, Hunter's mother, has the opportunity to showcase an art piece about grief at an exhibition in Seattle, which Gage, unable to get in a car since the accident, refuses to attend. With his aunt, mom, and stepdad out of town, Gage agrees to host a memorial for Hunter for their friends. To Gage, the memorial, a potential job working in his favorite celebrity chef's restaurant, and a budding romance with a charming new girl seem like the perfect opportunities to show how well he is handling things, but when it all gets to be too much, Gage is forced to reevaluate how to live with grief while also caring for others. This poignant, character-driven novel meditates on themes of grief, loss, trauma, masculinity, vulnerability, and healing in ways that are accessible for teen readers. Gage is initially resistant to suggestions that he seek therapy; his father and stepfather offer contrasting examples of openness to mental health support. Main characters read White. A tender and honest coming-of-age tale. (Fiction. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 1, 2023
Grades 9-12 There are as many ways to grieve as there are grieving people, but Gage suspects that most people expect the bereaved to "get over it" sooner rather than later. It has been a year since Gage's best friend and cousin, Hunter, died in a car accident, and Gage, a passenger in the car, is not over it. In an effort to support others, such as his young cousin Justine, he won't let on how he really feels, especially that he has full-blown panic attacks whenever he gets into a car and therefore has to walk everywhere. The only witness to these attacks is his father, who counterproductively advises Gage to "man up" and not burden his family. When Justine runs off and ends up in a town 10 miles away, Gage decides to go find her, and his friends rally around him to get him through the car ride to bring her home. Gage's growth and journey of healing are marked by empathetic and engaging characters and a solid plot that will have readers cheering for Gage and his friends.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 13, 2023

Gr 9 Up-It's been a year since Gage survived a car accident that killed his cousin and best friend Hunter during their senior year of high school in small-town Iowa. Gage still can't get into a car and frets when loved ones drive off in theirs. Suppressing his PTSD and depression, he builds up Hunter in his memory as perfect and invulnerable, forgetting that the grief immobilizing him is something Hunter never had to experience. When a rageful outburst at a customer at the local diner makes Gage a stranger to himself, his boss gives him the week off. Still pretending everything's okay, he loses himself in the work he loves-cooking-by preparing special dishes for his family, and while they are away, organizing a days-long feast and memorial for Hunter's friends that inevitably falls apart. A generous serving of fantasy informs this peer group, who are sensitive to Gage's fragility. But he has to come clean to himself first. All the characters are white except Mia, who's one of "only about seven" local Black families. She's also one of several close friends whose familiarity with the characters, costumes, movies, and music of The Lord of the Rings binds them together and brings about Gage's emotional catharsis. VERDICT A compassionate, fast-moving novel about grief, shame, and loss; references to The Lord of the Rings will strongly engage readers fond of the fantasy series.-Georgia Christgau

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