The Shape of Thunder

by Jasmine Warga

Cora hasn’t spoken to her best friend, Quinn, in a year.

Despite living next door to each other, they exist in separate worlds of grief. Cora is still grappling with the death of her beloved sister in a school shooting, and Quinn is carrying the guilt of what her brother did.

On the day of Cora’s twelfth birthday, Quinn leaves a box on her doorstep with a note. She has decided that the only way to fix things is to go back in time to the moment before her brother changed all their lives forever—and stop him.

In spite of herself, Cora wants to believe. And so the two former friends begin working together to open a wormhole in the fabric of the universe. But as they attempt to unravel the mysteries of time travel to save their siblings, they learn that the magic of their friendship may actually be the key to saving themselves.

Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary, Friendship, Fiction, Young Adult, Grief

275 pages, Hardcover

First published May 11, 2021

About the author

Jasmine Warga is a writer from Cincinnati, Ohio who currently resides in Chicago, Illinois. She is the internationally bestselling author of My Heart and Other Black Holes and Here We Are Now. Her books have been published in over twenty-five countries and optioned for film. Her debut middle grade novel, Other Words For Home, will be published in Spring 2019. Jasmine lives in an apartment filled with books with her husband, two tiny daughters, large dog, and mischievous cat.


**I am only on Goodreads when one of my publishers sets up a Q&A for me, so the best way to contact me is through my website: www.jasminewarga.com or on twitter: @jasminewarga. Thank you so much for reading my books!**

Reviews

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book 😭

"I can't decide if it's worse when people totally forget about that part of my identity or when people make assumptions about it. Both of them feel like losing."

This book was difficult for me to read as it deals mainly with loss of family members and grief. The story involves two neighbours both which lost a young life because of an unfortunate gun incident and they are grieving for their loss. What follows is how they are struggling to go through a normal day everyday.

The story is from the perspectives of Cora, the younger sister of the victim of gun violence and Quinn, the younger sister of the one who committed the crime. They grew up together, did everything together but things have become quite complicated to even face each other. This is their story of grieving their gone siblings, trying to take each day as it comes and trying to have a normal day with their families.

The guilt. The regrets. Everything about the families. It broke my heart.

We want to believe in some things we really want to believe in to be able to deal with the things we cannot control. Time travel. Can we just believe in it if it would give us some hope?

The book is all about family and friendship. The only people who will be with you no matter what.

And please do read the author's note. It speaks a lot about the story and the characters.

*Coming of age, loss of a family member, grief and therapy, identity, racism and cultural background

*A character with stuttering issues

Love the multicultural representation.

The writing just sucks you in the moment you start reading the first page. The story starts with a dark mood with some serious topics to deal with. I just love it when books do not waste words and introduces you to what you should expect of the characters and the plot you start reading them. And this book is exactly that.

A very fast-paced, emotionally driven book which I say the young and adults should read to understand each other better and how to deal difficult times together. Yes, this is the book I would recommend if I have to recommend a book something that demands like that.

Love these lines:

"I've figured out that I kinda love the library. The long line of shelves, the quiet hum of the ceiling fan, and the smell.
The library totally smells a certain way. Kind of musty, but also welcoming. It smells like a place where you can belong."

[Noura Khalid (theperksofbeingnoura) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Balzer + Bray for the gifted review copy in exchange for an honest review!

Jasmine Warga has a way of making you constantly emotional. After reading Other Words For Home I just knew I was going to want to read this and I'm so glad that I did.

I can't explain how amazing this book is. We start off with two points of view, Cora and Quinn. These girls entered my heart immediately. Jasmine Warga has a way of writing her main characters that just leaves you attached days after closing the book. I loved these two. We got a look into both their struggles after the tragedy and trauma. Both coping with what happened in their own way. Seeing how the people around them reacted. Everything felt so raw and painful, it was like being right there with them every step of the way. There was so much to be discussed from love and loss to trauma and healing. Not to forget identity and culture. It was all so heartbreaking but it was worth it.

I cried so many times reading this. It all felt so realistic and I love how the author brings these important discussions and issues to middle grade novels. There's a starting point to the discussion through her books and they're always so eye opening. I can't stress enough how important these things are. I know most people think of middle grade as always being light and comfort type novels but there's room for these too. There should be room for these too.

I definitely advise having a box of tissues ready because you'll be experiencing a wide range of emotions thanks to this book.

[Claude's Bookzone · Rating 4 out of 5]

CW: Death of loved one, gun violence (off page and not described), racism (reference only - no details given - we just understand it is the motivation behind the attack)

Well that was a beautifully written middle-school story of dealing with loss and guilt in the aftermath of a school shooting.

Cora and Quinn are both characters that Readers can empathise with. Their fragility and pain pour off the pages and I just wanted to hug them both. Ultimately this is about hope and healing and the different ways families cope with tragedy.

Although no details are provided I would make sure that young readers understand the plot of the story so they can decide if they are in the right headspace to read this.

[Darla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cora and Quinn were once best friends. A tragic event almost a year ago on November 11 caused a fracture between the two families. Although they live next door to each other, they might as well be on opposite sides of the country. The actual event remains shrouded in a cloud of euphemisms and grief. With the anniversary looming, Quinn is determined to turn back the clock. She enlists Cora in a project to find a wormhole and travel back in time and keep the tragedy from occurring. The name of the book comes from a quote in Cora's estranged mother's journal where she equates discovering the 'shape of thunder' with an equation for time travel. The thawing of relations between the two girls has much potential for healing both families. I especially appreciated Cora's therapy sessions, her conversation on Lebanese culture with her dad, and Quinn's confession to her compassionate librarian/Art teacher. The time travel bit was a smidge overdone. As with 'Other Words For Home,' this book from Jasmine Warga deftly deals with a difficult subject in a way that will invite discussion and also be accessible to a wide range of readers.

Thank you to Balzer + Bray and Edelweiss+ for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

[Belles Middle Grade Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you so much to Harper Collins for sending me this for review! I haven’t read Other Words for Home yet, but after loving this so much I’m really looking forward to it.

I normally stay away from books w/hard subject matters such as this(school shooting), but the synopsis was something entirely different to me, a way I hadn’t see anyone else do it before. The chapters alternate b/n our 2 MC-Cora & Quinn. They used to be best friends until almost a year before when Quinn’s brother Parker killed Cora’s sister Mabel in a school shooting. Each 1 of Quinn’s chapters starts w/a short note she writes to her brother also. Cora in a way blames Quinn for what her brother did, & thinks it would be a betrayal to Mabel to still be friends w/her. Quinn has decided that the only way to fix things is to go back in time to the moment before her brother changed all their lives forever—& stop him. She explains this to Cora-who is the science, super smart friend of the 2. Cora wants to believe it, & so they begin working together to open a wormhole in the fabric of the universe.-see why the synopsis made me relent & read?

This was hard for me in ways I wasn’t expecting though. ⚠️ Warning-my next comments are about sensitive & upsetting topics & may also be triggers⚠️My family went through a “shooting” but it wasn’t the same at all, so I thought I could handle it. A member of my family shot 5 other people in our family, & then took their own life. So I guess I can say this triggered me? Not going to go into why, but this book was powerful in many ways for me, & it helped me in some ways as well.

This touches on so many important topics, it is such an important read. The way Quinn’s parents are, the not crying, the guns, anxiety inducing lockdown drills, gun laws, the way we treat those related to the criminal-the way Quinn is treated is awful. The guilt and blame not only Quinn feels, but the victims family can feel for anything, such as arguments being the last memory. Therapy is so important too. I think both Quinn & Cora had some PTSD in my opinion, & both needed therapy. Watching these 2 girls try to make things right & take away the hurt & pain, & actually start healing TOGETHER was beautiful. I could go on & on.. In the words of Cora, “ We are biologically programmed to favor life. Not fear.” Amen. Highly recommend. Stunning cover by Dion MBD too.💜



Edit-Also, when I say I stay away from hard subject matter such as this, I mean things that are happening today & we are currently living through & it’s just sometimes too hard to read about them and live them. The civil war , WWI & WWII, or any books with hard subject matter that are historical fiction I feel I am learning from them & ..I don’t know how to explain it. I stay away from any MG related to 9/11 as well. I remember everything from that day perfectly & what followed. I don’t want to relive it. This author had such a unique idea though, that it made me take a chance & I’m so happy I did. Also when I said triggered, I know that is usually meant in a not positive way. In my case, it was positive. It brought back that day & the days that followed that were just as horrible watching loved ones fighting to make it..but it helped me make just a little more peace with it. I’m grateful for that. Loved this.💜

[tappkalina · Rating 3 out of 5]

"There should be a word for when you miss a person in the future. Not just missing memories of them, but missing memories you never got to have with them."

[Erin Entrada Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an incredible book. I loved it.

[akacya ❦ · Rating 5 out of 5]

content warnings: gun violence/school shooting & death of a loved one (both prior to story), grief

cora and quinn used to be best friends. but ten months ago, quinn’s brother brought a gun to school and now cora’s sister is dead. now, both are separately grieving their siblings in different ways. quinn is sure she found the key to getting everything back to normal, though, and convinces cora to help her figure out time travel.

i don’t think a middle grade book has ever made me this sad. of course these girls would want to go back in time—who wouldn’t, in their situation? i’m glad they were able to find some healing throughout the book and open up to each other and their families.

although this didn’t talk about the politics behind gun violence (i mean, the characters are twelve, after all), this was a really powerful story about how gun violence impacts children.

[Josiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rebecca Stead providing the blurb for the front cover is your first clue that The Shape of Thunder isn't just another middle-grade novel about personal loss. Weaving together themes of science, science fiction, and culture clash, Newbery Honoree Jasmine Warga delivers a story as unsettling as it is quiet, as deeply probing as it is confident in the moral tenets it espouses. It has been less than a year since Cora Hamed's older sister Mabel died, victim of a religious/racial hate crime. Losing her sister in one nightmarish morning of gun violence is a trauma that Cora has barely begun to process, but perhaps the most terrible part is that the shooter was Parker McCauley, the older brother of Cora's best friend Quinn. Cora severed her friendship with Quinn immediately after, and has gone out of her way not to speak to the girl, but this intentional distance is breached when Quinn sends Cora a package for her twelfth birthday. Grams wants Cora to open it, but even thinking about accepting the offering feels like a betrayal of Mabel. Cora will never forgive Quinn for what her brother did.

Quinn has lived in her own world of suffering these past months. Her brother killed himself following his shooting rampage, and her parents are constantly feuding. Is her father to blame because Parker used his guns to perpetrate the crime? Quinn wishes she could lean on her mother for support, but the woman is so absorbed in her own grief that Quinn can't broach the subject with her. As a promising young artist, Quinn finds some validation in Mrs. Euclid, the school art teacher, but is afraid to confide even in her about the day Parker turned murderer. Sending Cora the birthday box was a gesture that she wants to give their friendship another try, but is Quinn ready if Cora responds affirmatively?

To Cora's surprise, the contents of the box are a series of news and research articles speculating on time travel via wormhole. A minority of scientists believe our timeline has already seen visitors from the future, and Cora can't help wondering: if going back in time is possible, could she save Mabel? Cora is a crackerjack scientific mind and school Quiz Bowl competitor, not given to flights of fancy, but if there's a chance of restoring Mabel to her family, she has to investigate. She may even allow Quinn to assist.

Preadolescence is a daunting challenge under normal circumstances. Cora has brand-new feelings toward Owen Tanaka, a boy on her Quiz Bowl team whose intelligence, humor, and sense of style are attractive. Cora has become closer friends with Mia, a girl on the quiz team, since Mabel's death, but as Cora begins spending time with Quinn again, Mia doesn't handle the change well. Will she be relegated to second place again, if Cora lets Quinn back into her life? Quinn used to be a star soccer player on the school team, but this year she didn't try out. The pain of being on the outside looking in as her old teammates have fun competing together feels to Quinn like proper penance, who continues to obsess over what Parker did. Could she have stopped him if she paid better attention to the signs that his online community was radicalizing him? Could her father have prevented the tragedy if he got rid of his guns or more securely stored them? At least Cora has a therapist—the unflappable, graceful Dr. Randall—but Quinn has only her own thoughts for company on the subject, and they condemn her continually.

Cautious optimism rises when Cora signals she is willing to work with Quinn on the time travel hypothesis. The girls are wary around each other at first, neither of them ready to act like the close friends they were less than a year ago, but Cora has made up her mind: if they can go back and rescue Mabel, there's no need to hate Quinn. As their ongoing search yields no solid proof of a wormhole in their vicinity, however, Quinn knows they'll have to find something soon or Cora will lose faith. If they don't fix the timeline and resurrect Mabel, what hope is there for the future?

The Shape of Thunder is packed with emotional, illuminating moments. Cora finds a safe space in her sessions with Dr. Randall; he knows how to be supportive without coddling, when to push for progress or step back and let her breathe. He also responds well whenever Cora cries; as she observes, "Another thing I like about Dr. Randall: he doesn't react when I cry. Not in a mean way, but in a way that makes me feel like it's okay to cry. He doesn't make a big deal about it." We often go to such great lengths to insulate people we care about from having negative emotional reactions that we send the message that tears should be avoided at all cost. But sometimes, tears are appropriate. Letting a loved one's tears flow without direct comment assures them we aren't afraid of their most potent feelings, and they needn't be either. Crying is at times necessary for an emotionally healthy life.

One thing Quinn treasures about Cora is the trivia bits she used to sprinkle into their conversations. Even now, a knowledge nugget slips out of Cora now and then. My favorite is her explanation of why humans hear chirping birds more easily than most sounds. "And you know why that is?" Cora says. "You'd think it might be the roar of lions or the sound of some other predator, right? But no. We hear the chirps of birds because where there are birds, there usually is water. And where there is water, there's life. We're biologically programmed to favor life. Not fear. Isn't that so cool?" Cool, indeed. Whatever the danger looming against us, as individuals or a collective, we are hardwired to take risks and have adventure, even if finding our way to the watering hole increases the chances we'll lose our life to a predator. It's better to drink sweet water with friends than to shrink away from the public square and sip stagnant water from mud puddles, even if the latter may shield us from immediate harm. That is the fundamental truism of life, and one we mustn't forget.

Cora's father is as lost in grief over Mabel as she is, but has wise words that strike a chord with her. He proposes the concept of "imperfect theories", the scientific idea that theories we know aren't quite right can be used as stand-ins until we find evidence for a better model. He admits that none of his advice, or Grams's, will fix Cora's feelings of despair, but if she finds bits and pieces of it helpful to get her through the night, that's okay. "So maybe you can think of how you're handling missing Mabel—how you're coping with your grief—as an imperfect and evolving theory. It's always something you're going to have to puzzle over." Recognizing your own limitations is the hallmark of a sincere scientist, and Cora wants to be one. No magic bullet exists to kill the agony of missing Mabel, but surviving day to day is a noble goal.

Thoughts on handling grief are some of the most memorable parts of The Shape of Thunder. Like this, from Cora: "That's one of the things I hate the most about Mabel being gone. People want to remember her differently, perfectly. She was Mabel, my sister, my favorite person in the whole world, but she wasn't perfect. I want to remember her as she was. My memory of my sister is a triangle, made up of bold lines but also sharp angles, and everyone else wants to remember her as a boring and simple circle." Friends and family think they're doing the right thing when they ignore the crude or unpleasant sides of someone who has died, but in truth they are hastening that person's trip to the realm of the forgotten. We don't love epitaphs on a headstone, we love flesh and blood humans who do immoral things and have frustrating cycles of inappropriate behavior they fail to break free of all their lives, but I'd rather remember the real person than a sanitized replica who doesn't represent the complex, intense feelings I had for them. This relates to something Grams tells Cora, as Quinn writes at one point: "Grams says the dead belong to the living...she means that it's the people who are alive who create the memory of the dead person." It's our job as steward of a deceased love one's legacy to be sure people remember them authentically, and it's important to share our memories even if it hurts. Otherwise that person dies forever when we do, a fate we shouldn't want for someone we loved. Passing our precious memories on to others is much more fulfilling than if we hoard them to ourselves.

I have a pretty clear idea of Jasmine Warga's political bent, but overall she restrains herself admirably in these pages, not allowing The Shape of Thunder to devolve into a rant. When addressing sensitive topics like gun violence and extremist subcultures, she does so with a light touch for the most part, which tells me she's genuinely interested in presenting ideas in her books, not clubbing anyone over the head. The Shape of Thunder received a lot of Newbery buzz for 2022, and wouldn't have been a bad choice for at least an Honor. Thank you for a thoughtful read, Ms. Warga. You always seem to inspire.

[Kathie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I honestly don't know what else I can say about this story that hasn't already been said. Powerful, heart-wrenching, hopeful, this story is told from the perspective of two girls who lost siblings in a school shooting. Cora's sister, Mabel, was shot and killed by Quinn's brother, Parker. Both families are reeling with loss, while Cora and Quinn are also dealing with the estrangement of their friendship. When Quinn comes up with an idea to try and create a wormhole to time travel and prevent the violence of that horrific day, she asks Cora to help her, and the girls team up to try and fix things. They discover that changing the past might even more difficult than moving forward.

The dual perspectives and heartfelt writing make this an intense story that I would highly recommend for readers in Grades 5-8. I would be cautious recommending it to sensitive readers who are triggered by school shootings or violent events despite the lack of specific details about the shooting itself.

[Mimi ☆]

[8 June, 2020]
I practically inhaled all of her books last year.
I'm ready to sell my soul to get this book right now!

[Bandita · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s Cora’s 12th birthday and she hasn’t spoken to her best friend Quin in a year despite living next door to each other. Quin has left a box for Cora with a note saying she will fix everything. Cora has lost her sister and Quin has lost her brother. Quin has decided that she will fix things by going back in time and stopping her brother from doing something that changed all their lives forever.

In spite of herself, Cora agrees to this because she is desperate to have her sister back. Together Cora and Quin work to open a wormhole in the fabric of the universe so that they can travel back in time and change everything and bring back their lost ones.

This. Book. Was. Rough.

I had to take breaks from reading this book because of how difficult and heartbreaking it was. I had to put this book down after every chapter because I could not take it anymore. This book is gut wrenching.

This book was about gun violence and how this destroys families of the victims. Cora and Quin has both lost their loved ones to gun violence and their narration broke my heart seeing how much they missed their siblings.
I felt so bad for Cora who lost her sister to a school shooting but I felt even worse for Quin whose brother was responsible for the shooting. Quin wasn’t responsible for the shooting but she holds herself responsible for everything and everyone has stopped bring friends with her and it hurt me as hell seeing her being alienated like this. But it was so nice to see Quin and Cora being friends again.

Quin also wrote letters to her brother and every single letter broke my heart but I just lost it at the last letter. I cried okay. It broke my heart to pieces.

In conclusion, I absolutely loved this book. I think this is a must read even though it is a very very difficult book to read.

[Ann Braden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished THE SHAPE OF THUNDER. I barely have words. It's like the characters Cora and Quinn set up shop in my heart & I'm not ready for them to leave. This is a book you need to hug. A beautiful, wide bowl of love ready to hold anyone struggling under the weight of grief.

And yes, I know that these characters will never actually leave my heart, but it's like all I now have are memories of them, and thinking about how we remember people just makes me love this book all over again.

[Lorie Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s almost a year into the pandemic.
Almost a year since I’ve hugged great friends.
Almost a year since my students and I have communed together.

Then this book comes along. I’ve been anticipating it for a very long time. One of the last times I was together in community with my students was with Jasmine Warga, who had taken time out of her day to visit with my kids as we read Other Words for Home together. And she shared just a bit about The Shape of Thunder, including the title (as long as we promised not to tell.) So, yes, it’s been a long time coming for me, this book. And the only thing I knew was that it was prose.

I didn’t know that it would imprint on my heart the way it has. Told from alternating perspectives by former best friends Cora and Quinn, The Shape of Thunder takes place months after an unspeakable tragedy. The girls are so very different - Cora is scientific, Quinn artistic - yet so alike in their coming to grips with the permanence of their shattering losses. Neither wants to believe that things cannot be changed, so they embark on an “impossibly possible” journey to right their shared wrong.

I’m actually having trouble finding the words to describe how this book made me feel. I’m not sure there is a word that exists. English doesn’t have enough descriptors for feeling. But what I do know for sure is that I’ve read something vital and remarkable. I do know that I am a more empathic person because of this book. I do know that I have students that will love this book and, more importantly, students who need this book.

The Shape of Thunder has made the impossible possible. It has created a space for learning, feeling, forgiving. It challenges whiteness in subtle yet unforgettable ways. It uplifts the importance of feeling more than one thing, and that concept, while complex, is okay. And it paves the way for love to endure through dreadful, disastrous experiences. This book will help kids find their way through tragedy and anger to forgiveness and peace.

And we need that in this world more than ever.

Infinite stars for the infinite possibilities within The Shape of Thunder. This book has secured its spot on my list of all-time best reads, and am immensely grateful to Jasmine Warga to allow me a sneak peak into its magic.

[Ms. B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story about two middle schoolers, Cora and Quinn whose lives changed because of a school shooting. Quinn's older brother Parker was the one with the gun who shot Cora's older sister Mabel, another student, a teacher and himself prior to the start of this story. After the school shooting, the two girls drift from each other, Can they rekindle their friendship by reuniting to find a wormhole that will allow them to travel back in time to fix the wrongs of the past?
Give this one to the tweens and young teens who are looking for stories about school shootings, middle school friendships or those who loved Jasmine Warga's Other Words for Home and want to read everything by her.

[Dinah Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eureka ! Jasmine Warga has done it again.

[Oyinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ✨✨

[Ris Sasaki · Rating 3 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐

Huge trigger warning for gun violence.

Can Jasmine Warga do wrong? I truly dont believe so.
The way that she structures and delivers her stories and characters are so touching and realistic that there's no way that you're not going to feel something for them.

I love it so so much that I barely have words to describe it.

This book is important not only to younger audiences but also to us grown up adults, so, as the author said, we can FINALLY wake up and start to make changes in this fucked up world.

[BookNightOwl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The shape of Thunder deals with best friends having to deal with a tragedy of a school shooting that affects both their lives. It deals with two families trying to move on with this murder suicide and at the same time trying to find answers. I enjoyed this middle Grade book.

[Nev · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book grabbed me by the heart and squeezed tight. The Shape of Thunder is a Middle Grade story about how two young girls were impacted by a school shooting. Cora lost her older sister to the gunman, who was Quinn’s older brother. Cora and Quinn used to be best friends, but after what happened they haven’t spoken in a year… until Quinn leaves Cora a mysterious box on her birthday.

It was extremely moving to see the different ways that Cora and Quinn reacted to what happened and how they started to come back together. Their relationships with the families and other friends at school were really fleshed out and added to the overall dynamic of the story. I was really rooting for these girls and their process of healing. It’s definitely a very heavy story with a lot of sad moments, but there’s hope to be found as well.

[Lisa Welch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Get ready to cry! There is so much to love about this one - the writing, the characters, the different relationships and dynamics. I loved it all! Every character is unique and so well developed. I love how the characters interacted with each other, and how they grew throughout the novel (some more than others which is so realistic as well). The grief that they are all experiencing is palpable. This is a middle grade novel, and I love how Warga takes some VERY heavy issues and makes them manageable and understandable for middle grade readers. Warga is a forever favorite of mine, and I cannot say enough good things about this one!

[Shari · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent middle grade story about the aftermath of a school shooting and how two former friends cope with guilt, loss, and grief. I really love the alternating points of view. These two girls have experienced devastating trauma, and while one is receiving therapy and support, the other is not, and throws herself into her own attempt to “set things right.” My heart broke as I learned more of Quinn’s and Cora’s stories and the intense emotional turmoil they struggled through. Despite the traumatic events, this story is full of hope and positive messages about therapy, reaching out to others for help, and living for the future, not for the past.

[Akshaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

When i first read the summary I was interested in the flashback, but as I read i saw how the characters Quinn and cora were, I can't imagine the pain Cora went through and how Quinn felt about everything her brotherhad done. But I really liked Quinn. at the end both cora and Quinn understood they can't go back to the past and change what's happened, but overcome what happened.

It was a great story.

[Amanda M (On The Middle Shelf) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Jasmine Warga does it again! I read Other Words For Home a couple years ago and loved it so I was highly anticipating Warga's newest release and it did not disappoint. I have to admit, when I first heard the premise included worm holes I started to get scared that this would be a little too out the for me, but it wasn't. It is a book about forgiveness and friendship. How to move forward after trauma and allow yourself to keep going. It was fantastically done!

[Amber Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! This was one of those books I did not want to put down. Dealing with fraught friendships, gun violence, absent parents and more; this book was outstanding. Warga did an amazing job of handling delicate subjects in a way that worked for this age reader. The book almost forced conversation and was done incredibly well.

[Fanna]

October 14, 2020: I feel like I might cry reading this.

[Shafira Indika · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75/5⭐️

Jasmine Warga did it again!! Setelah bikin aku sukaabgt sama "Other Words for Home", "The Shape of Thunder" jadi salah satu bacaan favoritku.

Ketika liat kata-kata 'time travel' di buku ini, kukira buku ini akan menjadi buku bergenre magical realism atau fantasy. Ternyata nggak. This book talks about loss, grief, and also love. Intinya... time travel (maybe) doesnt exist so all you have to do is deal with your loss. Kita ga akan bisa mengubah apapun yang udah terjadi di masa lalu. Itu yang menurutku dibicarakan di buku ini.

"The Shape of Thunder" diceritakan dari 2 sudut pandang, yaitu sudut pandang Cora yang kakaknya, Mabel, meninggal karena school shooting, dan sudut pandang Quinn, yang kakaknya merupakan pelaku penembakan tersebut. Cora dan Quinn bersahabat namun hubungan mereka berantakan karena kejadian itu. Suatu hari, Quinn mengirimkan box kepada Cora. Isinya mengenai time traveling. Ada beberapa berita yang menceritakan pengalaman time traveler. Hal ini membuat Quinn berpikir bahwa ia bisa kembali ke masa lalu dan mencegah perbuatan kakaknya supaya ia masih bersahabat dengan Cora. Di lain sisi, Cora jg melihat hal ini dapat membuatnya menyelamatkan Mabel. Akhirnya mereka bekerja sama untuk dapat melakukan time traveling.

Buku ini banyak berkutat pada perasaan Cora dan Quinn—tntg gimana Cora menghadapi kenyataan bahwa kakaknya bener2 udah ga ada dan gimana Quinn menerima kenyataan bahwa kakaknya yang telah menjadi pelaku pembunuhan. Mereka sama2 menanggung beban yang berat. Buku ini juga menunjukkan bahwa seringkali orang tua menghindari pembicaraan yang dirasa berat dan sulit, padahal semestinya coba dibicarakan dulu, jangan dihindari atau dilarang utk dibicarakan. Aku suka ayahnya Cora yang cukup terbuka membicarakan hal ini, bahkan meminta bantuan profesional juga. Di lain sisi, orangtua Quinn justru selalu berusaha menghindari percakapan ini. Akibatnya, Quinn jd menanggung beban sendirian.

Intinya buku ini very recommended! Buku ini termasuk buku middle grade jugaa sehingga bahasa Inggrisnya mudah dipahami. Cocok banget buat yang mau coba baca buku berbahasa Inggris. Ceritanya juga bagussbgt walaupun sejujurnya aku penasaran soal penembakan tsb yang sayangnya ga diceritakan lebih lanjut. Aku paham sih mungkin penulis pengen lbh fokus ke perasaan Cora & Quinn serta gimana mereka menghadapi kesedihan dan kehilangan saudaranya hehe cmn yaa kepo aja. Udah sih itu doang sisanya aku okeebgt! Kalian harus coba baca buku ini👍🏻👍🏻

[Shreya D · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book talks of grief, guilt, friendship, gun violence- some really important topics. I liked it how both Quinn's and Cora's point of views were voiced. But the book felt short of reaching out to its full potential. Maybe because I had higher expectations from it after reading Other Words For Home. Or maybe because it had too many topics going on that somehow weighed it down excessively. Other topics includes- mentions of culture and identity, character with stuttering issues, absent mother. Moreover the plot was too slow for my liking.
I would still recommend it because of the way the book gives voice to both the sides while exploring friendship, grief and guilt equally and ending it on a hopeful note.

[Rachel007 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ohhhh this book is so special and important. I'm so glad I got to read an ARC (thank you Jasmine Warga for the copy) and I'm so glad I made the decision to purchase this one to own it.

Cora and Quinn are struggling, ask big questions, want answers, and want to fix what broke them. Told in dual points of view, Cora and Quinn's story deals with gun violence, school shootings, loss, and grief. Warga does this without ever flashing back to the actual event. She does this without showing us any flashbacks of the characters who died that day or caused such pain. The beauty of this book is that it treats the subject with care and love, and also honesty. The adults don't have all the answers; they don't even have all the skills to make the situation better. The characters are flawed and real because of this.

This will be an important read for many classrooms, educators, librarians, teachers and parents.

[Carli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the advance Kindle copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 for this heartbreaking story about best friends trying to make sense of a tragedy. Almost one year ago, Quinn’s brother Parker shot and killed several classmates, including her best friend Cora’s sister Mabel. Now existing in separate worlds, the two are brought back together by the possibility of finding a wormhole and changing the past. Told in alternating voices, the girls’ pain is palpable - and their friendship may be what saves them after all. This one is out this coming Tuesday, and I highly recommend it for grades 5-8.