If Anything Happens I Love You

by Will McCormack, Michael Govier, Youngran Nho (Illustrator)

Unimaginable loss yields to the power of human connection in this simple, moving story from the filmmakers of the eponymous Oscar-winning film.  
 
An elegy on grief.

"Heavy pain exquisitely rendered." Kirkus Starred Review

Based on the Academy Award-winning animated short by the same name, If Anything Happens I Love You is a young adult graphic novel that follows two parents as they reckon with the loss of their young daughter, Rose, in a school shooting. Readers follow Rose from “above” as she watches her parents slowly break down under the weight and pain of their loss. Throughout the novel, Rose’s soul seeks to help her parents reconnect. We learn who Rose was and how much life she lived in her short time.  By incorporating a wide range of characters, her boyfriend, teacher, and her cat, Rose is able to introduce healing into the lives of the people she left behind. If Anything Happens I Love You may be a story about loss, but in it we see ourselves—in the grief, the pain, and, most importantly, in the fight toward human connection, love, and acceptance.
 

Genres: Graphic Novels, Young Adult, Picture Books, Middle Grade, Fiction, Mental Health, Childrens

64 pages, Paperback

Published September 27, 2022

Reviews

[Traci Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a little snapshot at grief. I liked it but wonder who the audience is? Children? Adults? I’m not sure it had anything new to say but I did love the illustrations.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short, sweet, sad picture book is told from the point of a girl who dies in a school shooting. She watches as her parents try to cope with their loss, and engages the family cat to help her reach out to them.

The saddest part is not the school shooting, or even that there is this picture book about that. No, the saddest part is that I didn't have to make a new category for school shooting to file this book under. I already had one for previous books.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Kim Lockhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good, though very short book about grief. Each grief is different, but one thing is the same: we have to talk about it.

I have known people who were murdered, and it felt different than the deaths of others I had known. None of them were young children; I cannot imagine the compounding element of that. The death of an adult child can be just as painful, but also different.

The authors do their best to help, and I hope that this story does help some parents, educators, and the children who need to feel okay about surviving when their friends did not.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

The movie got 10/10 in my book

and I’ve rewatched it as often as I can stand to. Adding more detail doesn’t help, in this case, I think, though the essence remains and it’s still worth reading. But watch the brief film if you can (it’s on Netflix but may be elsewhere.)

[LG (A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of Rose and the people she left behind when she was killed in a school shooting. The focus is primarily on Rose's parents' feelings of grief in the aftermath, and how they, together with Rose's spirit and their memories of her, gradually start to heal.

Although this is marketed as a graphic novel, it reads more like a picture book to me.

I read this before watching the short film it was based on, expecting the two works to basically be the same. Although that was sort of true, and both works involved the same artist, the film centered the parents and their grief and kept Rose more in the background, while the graphic novel highlighted Rose's emotions and concern for her parents more. Also, the film was wordless while this book was not.

Both versions of the story are tearjerkers, and I couldn't tell you which one I prefer more.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

[مصطفي سليمان · Rating 5 out of 5]

قصة مؤثرة للغاية والمثير هنا.. أننا جايبين قصة من زواية غاية في الصعوبة وهي الطفلة الصغيرة التي توفت بسبب واحدة من أغبي الاشياء التي تحدث في بلد من المفترض أنه متحضر..زي أمريكا.. وهو حظر الاسلحة..وان اي شخص يقدر بكل بساطة شراء سلاح ناري
وبالتالي وبشكل متكرر يقوم شخص مختل بالدخول الي اماكن عامة ويقوم بقتل بشكل عشوائي
وعدة مرات يحصل في مدارس أطفال مثل تلك الحوداث المرعبة والقصة هنا بتتكلم علي واحدة من هولاء الضحايا
القصة الحزينة دي أتحولت لفيلم تحريك قصير لطيف للغاية وكسب الاوسكار لأفضل فيلم تحريك قصير

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11768948/

الفيلم موجود علي نيتفليكس
https://www.netflix.com/eg-en/title/8...

أونلاين
https://www.faselhd.club/movies/%D9%8...

[Cinthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so heartbreaking. How can such a short story bring tears to my eyes? I felt so bad for the teacher because she tried to save all her students and she was successful at saving them, except for a little girl. This book focuses mainly on the parents left behind and the shadows of grief that is driving the parents apart without their daughter to keep them together. The daughter is witnessing this from her shadow world, seeing her parents shadows become more distant and disengaged. Finally, she is able to help them by having the cat remind the parents of happier times, and the parents are able to start to heal.

[TheNextGenLibrarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This broke my heart. Especially after Uvalde last week. I don’t have the words to write a review for this one.

CW: death of a child, school shooting, grief

[May · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely gut wrenching when I realized what happened to her. I cried. I wish things like this didn't happen.

[Tracey Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stupid book made me cry.

Currently free on Kindle and other ebook providers.

[Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

heart breaking

This book made me sob uncontrollably but I’ll still recommend it. What a beautiful glimpse at the aftermath of child loss.

[PunkRockLibrarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely beautiful.

[riley p · Rating 5 out of 5]

many tears were shed!! beautiful and heartbreaking

[Cailyn Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful story about grief and how the loss of a child affects parents.

[Katie]

reading rainbow read this book to me on tik tok and I cried

[lobelyys · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no words, perfect sadly real read

[Ali · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book feels purposeless, a completely unnecessary appendage to a beautiful-slash-devastating short film. I think it's marketed as telling the daughter's perspective, but all it really does is explain away the simple unsaid beauty of the film and remove from its narrative all vestiges of charm and surprise. Defining the shadows, the daughter's intervention, and the cat's magic effectively eliminates all the nuanced possibilities the film's story has to offer and replaces them with what I think amounts to the blandest possible definition.

Truly questioning why this exists, too, as it's less of a graphic novel and more of a children's book? I have no idea who the audience is. It's not me, that's for sure.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw the short film of this a few months ago. The film is better because instead of relying on narration it has a soundtrack. However, this is still a moving little volume that pricked my eyes and made me sniffy.

[Desmond & Their Queer Dragons · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short and powerful eulogy that focuses on the grief of the parents after the loss of a child after a mass shooting. One that is more relevant than ever in the United States.

One of the first lines that hits me about this book is on the first page, where Rose says "everyone always says I was only 12 Years old, but I lived a huge life" reinforcing that positivity Rose had on the lives of those she met, which is then showed with her interacting with Issac and her teacher, the trip she took with her parents, playing instruments with her father, gardening with her mother.

Then there is the scene with the children walking out with their hands on each others shoulders as they run to find their parents, with Rose's own Parents just waiting with the heartbreaking line from Rose: "They are still waiting."

The artwork truly helps the message hit home. Beautifully crafted, the words themselves could be taken away from the book and the impact would be the same.

My only thing is that I wish there was more depth regarding the shootings and how that grief is at conflict with the news, how life goes on while the parents are still grieving. I know that was the inspiration behind the short animated film, but I wish that translated over into the novel if it couldn't translate into the animated short film.

All in all, a short and impactful graphic novel. Room for more expansion but is a great leeway to become something more.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Huge thanks to Edelweiss for an advanced copy of this beautiful and moving graphic novel. It felt more like a picture book to me because if it's brevity and text that is separate from the illustrations, but that's not really important. If Anything Happens I Love You is the story of parents grieving the loss of their child lost due to gun violence. I didn't think the simple illustrations would make me cry, but they did! This book may be small, but it's powerful. (Side note: There is a film counterpart on Netflix.)

[Sonia Schoenfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

A middle schooler is killed by a school shooter, and her parents grieve.

That's about it, but this little graphic novel really gets to the heart of what grief can do to a couple who has lost their child. Written from the perspective of the little girl and with a couple of magical moments, the book really conveys the love that this family has for each other. In the end, there is hope.

The drawings are simple with color for accents. The parents, the daughter, and their souls are portrayed beautifully in a way that words just couldn't.

[Kira · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agree with others that I’m not sure who this book is targeted towards. My library system had it in the “adult graphic novel” category, but the content seemed more aimed towards children. With that being said, the message felt geared towards adults? The whole thing only skimmed the surface of what true grief is. I was not impressed.

Also to add, I can’t help but feel like the reason this book has such high ratings is because people feel like this is a work of nonfiction, but it’s not. This is a work of fiction. Don’t feel bad telling the truth about this book.

[Raven Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did and do like this book. However, it is a "pull at your heartstrings" story that is a smidgen pushy. However, the fact the creators focus on the fact the life of our main character, and not her death is refreshing. We see the grieving of her parents, but that is just a piece of the larger puzzle. This is a celebration of life, love and healing. It is showing how in 12 short years how our narrator packed in a lot of life. The illustrations are delightful paired with the text/story and are both supporter and their own character.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve never seen the short film that won the Academy Award in 2020, so I went into reading this book without any idea what it was about. My god, I have never bawled so hard at a book. It’s the perfectly accurate essence of grief, but a grief that I have not (and hope to never) experienced. The end shocked me, which is honestly how we should feel after something like this happens. Suffice it to say - five stars.

[Evie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me cry. When first reading it I did not know this was a book that focus on losing a child due to school shooting. It discuss the aftermath of parents losing their child and how they grew apart. The way it shows and explains in a simple way how our bodies don’t say much but our souls do. How our souls want to truly express. Overall the book was beautiful and it showed that even though it’s hard we should relive the beautiful memories of our lost ones.

[Bethany Beachler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book broke my heart. As a previous teacher, and mother to a daughter, the pain these parents felt and the voice of the daughter telling the story broke my heart. Rose is 12 years old and she is dead. She died in a school shooting. Her teacher was able to save her classmates, but not Rose. The teacher is called a hero but she can’t live with the guilt. Rose’s spirit is up to some tricks to save her parent’s marriage after their grief pulls them apart.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A poignant story of loss, grief, and the emotional aftermath of the death of a child - in this case, during a school shooting.
Told from the perspective of the child, she talks about how important her 12 years of life were. Through the actions of her soul, and her cat, helps her parents remember her life and come together to grieve.
The emotional fallout of her death is upfront, yet gently depicted. The image of her teacher afterwards is haunting.

[Vivian York · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have never watched this book, but I have wanted to. I wanted to ensure that I read the book before I did that though. I liked this story, and I felt that this would be an amazing book for people who are grieving to read. But after that, I don't know who the audience is supposed to be. It seems like it is probably for middle schoolers to understand grief, but I am unsure with the death being caused by school shootings. I just was hoping for more.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A devastatingly, beautiful graphic novel surrounding the unseemly, but not uncommon American truth of gun violence. A couple is torn apart by the grief of losing their child in a school shooting. From the beyond, the girl sees her parents struggling and uses her cat, music, and clothing to bring her parents together to support each other in grief.

[Isabel Alarcón · Rating 4 out of 5]

No lo leería de nuevo porque es demasiado triste; y creo que todos deberían leerlo en países donde los tiroteos son un problema (EEUU y no se me ocurre ningún otro país donde esto sea un tema sistemático que la misma población se niega a arreglar)

Utilicé la opción de audiolibro, y tengo la sensación de que eso lo hizo más triste de lo que hubiera sido leerlo.