Love Letters to the Dead: Chapters 1-5

by Ava Dellaira

Download the first five chapters of LOVE LETTERS TO THE DEAD by Ava Dellaira.

It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May did. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to people like Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Amelia Earhart, Heath Ledger, and more—though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating new friendships, falling in love for the first time, learning to live with her splintering family. And, finally, about the abuse she suffered while May was supposed to be looking out for her.

　

This luminous debut novel has garnered exhuberant pre-publication praise from Laurie Halse Anderson, Jay Asher, Gayle Forman, and Lauren Myracle, and foreign rights have sold to six countries.

32 pages, Unknown Binding

Published December 17, 2013

About the author

Ava Dellaira's debut adult novel, Exposure, will be published by Zibby Books in September of 2024. Her young adult debut, Love Letters to the Dead, was named a Best Book of the Year by Apple, Google, BuzzFeed, the New York Public Library and the Chicago Public Library, and was also featured in Vanity Fair, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, and The New York Times Book Review. Her young adult follow-up In Search of Us was the recipient of widespread critical acclaim. Her fiction has been translated into 24 languages. She is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was a Truman Capote Fellow. She grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and received her undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago. She lives in Altadena, CA with her husband and their two young children.

Reviews

[Francielly · Rating 4 out of 5]

First 5 chapters were good ... This book doesn't come out until April 1st. I will purchase it mainly because I need to know how her sister died. All it says is "mysterious death". I also liked the way the book was written in form of letters.

[Mell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uno de los libros con más post-its de mi bookshelf, lo amé sin duda alguna.

[Nico Esquenazi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coloco esto como relectura...
Volver a leer este libro me enseñó a entender ese tema tan importante que trata en el fondo. La razón de la partida de May. Necesitaba desbloquear la lectura...

[Esmeralda batres · Rating 3 out of 5]

sincomemtario

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the book. I thought it was a short story but realized later that there's a book and it will come out on April 1 had I known this, I would've never read five chapters. I'm so curious to know how Laurel's sister passed away. She died in a mysterious way. I can't wait to read about it. I guess the book would turn out to be an interesting one.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually have the whole book (real, not e-version).
Amazing coming of age story told through letters to dead people. A girl suffers a great loss and has to figure out how to deal with it at the same time as she enters adolescence. Raw emotions. Powerfully written. Beautiful, unique ways of describing sights, sounds, and feelings.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't wait to read the rest ...

[William Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Need the rest NOW! Luckily just got the book and ready to start it now. 5/5, plus a fan of Kurt Cobain.

[Daniella Huerta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow wonderful

I loved this preview I saw it on suggested books and checked it out and found this absolutely buying the full book

[Tess · Rating 3 out of 5]

The structure was hard to get my head around, but the plot was interesting.

[Gita Sturtevant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good

Sad and I wanted to m know how May died never found out. Don't want to know now too bad

[Jesse Deleon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alright preview sampler.

Give it 5 stars for getting right into the blues of high school and teens dealing with life going into adulthood. Will say after reading the book.