Goodbye and Keep Cold

by Jenny Davis

Eight-year-old Edda's world is shattered the day her father is killed in a strip mining accident. Edda has always been a lonely child, and without her father beside her, she feels that her connection to the world has been severed. But she bravely assumes the responsibility of holding her family—especially her grieving mother—together. As the years slip by, Edda grows up quickly into an adult world that is often mysterious and bewildering. And she slowly comes to accept that her family may be hurt, but they are still whole.

Genres: Young Adult

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Jenny Davis has never been a person to sit on the sidelines. In her writing, teaching, and social activism she has translated her personal experiences--both pleasant and unpleasant--in ways that can help young people survive adolescence. Social concerns such as unemployment, homelessness, illiteracy, and violent crime are shown from the viewpoint of Davis's teen protagonists in such highly praised novels as Good-Bye and Keep Cold and Checking on the Moon.

Growing up involves more than just overcoming one or two obstacles for the young people who inhabit these novels. It means confronting a never-ending succession of challenges. In each of Davis's books, written in an engaging conversational style, teens learn that parents are not always right, and that violence, old age, insecurity, and loneliness are all a part of life, sometimes conquerable, more often accepted and endured to the best of one's ability.

"I try very hard not to write down to anyone, myself included," Davis told an Authors and Artists for Young Adults (AAYA) interviewer.

Reviews

[Shatha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite a charming book. It's like one of those movies that you watch as a child, forget about for ten years, then stumble upon afterwards. It made me emotional, but in a good way. I read this for the first time when I was a child, and it amazes me how much of Edda's personality I took on.

10/10

re-read in 2020
a simple, quiet, yet honest book.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd have liked to have read this book as a child. It talked about a lot of issues having to do with grief. I highly recommend it.

[Edwina Halpin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in my early teens, a find in our local library. I'd like to read again.

[Raven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very slow. Very tiring. I remember reading this book and loving it. Once you get to oh, pg.165 you can start really reading. It is a very touching novel and has a happy ending. I did love the ending of the book really liked how it ended and the writing style but you have to read 165 pages to get to the good parts.