Before We Go

by Amy Bright

Visiting her dying grandmother in hospital is not what 17 year old Emily wants to be doing for New Year's Eve, but it's not like she has anything else to do. Leaving the hospital, she meets a teen-aged boy named Alex, who is also leaving. When he invites her to go for a burger with him and his sister, she goes along. What Emily doesn't know is that Alex, too, is dying, their meeting is not a coincidence, and she is in for a New Year's Eve unlike any other. Before We Go is the moving story of three kids propelled toward a surprising future by family secrets that have spanned generations.

Genres: Young Adult

232 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2012

About the author

Hi.

My name is Amy Bright and I am the author of Before We Go, my first (!!!) book for young adults.

I was born in Alberta, grew up in California and Florida, went to university in New Brunswick and British Columbia, lived in Boston, and now, at twenty-four, I’m back in Alberta again.

I love reading and write about some of my favorite books at my book review blog Girl to the Rescue, which I started as a way to read more YA books in university. After finishing my MA in English I took a year off (A MUCH NEEDED YEAR OFF), and in September I’ll be starting my PhD in English in Alberta on children’s and young adult literature. If you are interested in my academic work, it can be found in the Journal of Children’s Literature and Studies in Canadian Literature.

If you would like to contact me, please send an email to girltotherescue (at) gmail (dot) com.

Reviews

[Janet Barclay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book, and there's so much I loved about it!

1) The story all takes place within one night (with occasional, not not many, flashbacks)

2) It's told from the point of view of three characters, but in the third person.

3) It's a unique but believable story.

4) It was interesting to watch the relationship unfold between Emily, Alex and Lucy.

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amy has an incredible ability to create characters that are believable and likeable. As the book develops you get pulled into the events and the intensity that builds up at the end makes this a very enjoyable read.

[Shannie Joy Kosman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to choose to tell the story through the course of one night. Though a nice story, I did not feel for the main character. I also figured out what the other two major characters were up to far too early in the story.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book. It was just really different from a lot of the books I have been reading lately. The story is really touching, and Amy's writing is quite beautiful. I really didn't find any faults with this book. It's extremely fast paced, which really helped make it a quick, touching and enjoyable read.

As I mentioned, the story is really fast paced. Which would make sense considering the entire book takes place in one day. I've not read many books that take place in such a short time frame, and it seems like something that would be really hard to accomplish when you're trying to write a decent sized book. Amy really pulled it off though, and the story was really engaging. With it taking place in such a short time period, you have a ton of stuff thrown at you to keep the story moving. I didn't really feel as though any of it was overwhelming though, I think Amy did a great job pacing everything while still making sure that she was able to fit everything in.

Without a doubt the characters are what made this book. While the story itself was amazing, the characters really drove this book home. I loved Emily, Alex and Lucy. They were such great characters, and I really enjoyed the relationship the built after having known each other for such a short amount of time. But it's the interactions that take place between them all that really make this book so great. One of the best moments between them is at a part thrown by Justin who is Alex and Lucy's cousin. I won't go into much more detail than that, but I will say that this book is so worth reading, just for the characters alone.

The ending was so, so, so good and really sad at the same time. I was really hoping to get a good ending from this book, considering how compact it was as far as the story goes. And Amy really came through with a beautiful and touching ending. Everything was wrapped up in a way I really wasn't expecting. I was really happy that it all came together into a solid ending though, even if it was somewhat on the sad side.

I would really recommend reading this book if you ever get the chance to. It's really worth it, I know I was really glad to have the chance to read it. I hope you'll all check it out though, it's a great contemporary that is really touching and holds some pretty big surprises.

[Ha44413 · Rating 3 out of 5]

January 24, 2014
Hajra Aftab

I read a book which is called “Before we go”.It was mostly talked about Emily's life and she is the protagonist. She is visiting to the hospital every day for her dying grandmother. Emily has spent most of her seventeen years living with her grandparents. She is really attached with her grandma. She loves her a lot. Emily really cares about her grandmother. She wanted to live with her grandma but her mom doesn’t allow her. She refused her.

Once Emily knows that her grandma have a serious disease. But, she is always with her and fights for her life. She takes her to hospital for better care. Emily spends all her time with her grandma. Her grandma took a frame to the hospital. Three faces were inserted carefully inside a frame: Emily her grandma, and her grandfather (Bright #03). She wants to memorize her old days which she mostly spends with her grandchild (Emily). Emily wants to spend more time with her grandmother before she die
.
Emily’s grandma was so old and sick. Her grandma had to do physical therapy every day (Bright 49). Emily doesn’t want to lose her at any cost. She hated to live alone in home. Emily’s grandmother is dying and soon Emily will be alone. Alex is dying from cancer and Lucy will soon lose her sibling. It is a story about the heartache of family love. I felt this novel could have deeper emotions. It’s a sad story. Before We Go preserved me of my tiredness. I flew through this book. It’s is a quick read with believable characters that are easy to associate with.

1-author's purpose is that she is trying to stay in touch with your family.
2- The impact does this book have on its audience is that they showing strong relationship between grandmother and her grandchild.
3-I don't think this book is well written because they were confusing us about Emily's mom ( what's she really want from her daughter)?
4- Yes, this book is really interesting, the character which I relate to is Emily. She is caring like me. This book was little bit funny and more serious.
5- the strength was that Emily live with her grandma while she is suffering from serious disease. They greatest weakness is that her mom is not with her.
6-Yes I would recommend this book to my friend because it's give you a great lesson about your life.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emily’s grandmother is dying. Emily feels alone and saddened by all the coping information the hospital keeps giving her. On New Year’s Eve Emily leaves the hospital, only to run into Alex who invites her to join him and his sister, Lucy, for the evening. Emily doesn’t know it, but Alex is dying, too, and this is going to be his one last adventure. She also doesn’t know it, but Alex and Lucy are keeping a family secret from her, one they want to reveal at just the right moment.

Join these three on a New Year’s Eve journey where they each discover something new about themselves.

My Thoughts: Amy Bright’s novel is moving, passionate, sad, and inspiring. She packs a lot into one night (I loved this short time frame!). Emily is stuck in the routine of school, hospital, home, and she avoids home as much as possible because it is so quiet and lonely. I really felt for Emily because her aloneness screams out from the first page. That powerful feeling is what makes it believable that Emily would join two strangers as she’s leaving the hospital for the night.

I won’t give the secret away, but very early on Alex and Lucy hint that they are keeping something from Emily, and that just pulled me even further into the story. Not only does the secret make you want to read on, so does Alex. He doesn’t tell Emily that he’s dying, so since I knew he was, every time he stumbled or breathed heavy, or threw up, I kept worrying he would die right then and there.

My concern for Alex is shared by Lucy, who loves her brother and wants to do what is right for him. She keeps thinking they should go back to the hospital, but she also wants to honor his wish to be out and about and enjoy this one last adventure. Their relationship is sweet and loving and perfect for the story.

I guess the relationships are really what made me love this story. I mean, they don’t do anything strange or exotic, so the plot isn’t filled with riveting events—just real-life ones. But Emily, Alex, and Lucy are interesting as individuals and as a group. Their thoughts and feelings are so well developed and realistic that I felt like they could have walked right off the page.

[Nancy H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this is a YA book, it is an amazing story that adults will enjoy also. It is the story of Emily, whose grandmother is dying, and two siblings, Alex and Lucy, who have a devastating secret of their own, plus an even deeper secret that involves Emily, unbeknownst to her. Most of the action takes place on New Year's Eve, and begins as a very lonely Emily is leaving the hospital to return to her grandmother's empty house. What happens at that moment is something that will affect Emily for the rest of her life. A very quick read, this story is one that will stick with the reader for quite a while after the book ends.

[Sheri McGuinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the story, but remained detached from the main character. There were also several places where editing should have clarified the writer's intent. I hope the author finds a better editor for her next novel.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

VOYA review to come.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was intriguing and kept me asking questions. it was a thoughtful story about who your family is and about how short time really is.