A review by kaloughl
The Shape of Thunder by Jasmine Warga
5.0
Jasmine Warga's The Shape of Thunder was utterly fantastic. Cora and Quinn were best friends until an act of violence tore them apart: Quinn's brother Parker brought a gun to school and killed Cora's sister Mabel. The two are now reckoning with their own grief and guilt, learning how to move on. After Quinn leaves a package for Cora with research on wormholes and time travel, the two begin to reconcile as they explore whether it's possible to change the past.
I love that Warga had so many different layers to Cora and Quinn, their friendship, and their families. After such an event there are, understandably, a lot of feelings going around. Warga tackles each level beautifully, making clear that no human is perfect in their grief, guilt, or anger and there can be a lot of conflicting truths all at once. There is discussion of mental health and therapy (with one family being in support and active in mental recovery, the other reluctant), thoughts and discussion on how someone can go from being a great brother to a mean and racist killer (the delve into noticing and acknowledging the truth of that descent was really well penned). There is also some bordering on science fiction with the discussion of wormholes and time travel but the whole subject is also just a vehicle for the girls to realize you can't change the past but you can acknowledge it and move on.
I really loved Warga's middle grade debut Other Words for Homeand The Shape of Thunder really solidifies her ability to write the inner monologues of kids with all their facets. It's not a happy book but it's also not entirely sad, which is impressive given it's subject. This book would be great for juvenile book clubs (or even adult book clubs) with discussions of mental health, right/wrong and how they overlap, and friendship/forgiveness. I highly recommend that everyone reads this book!
I love that Warga had so many different layers to Cora and Quinn, their friendship, and their families. After such an event there are, understandably, a lot of feelings going around. Warga tackles each level beautifully, making clear that no human is perfect in their grief, guilt, or anger and there can be a lot of conflicting truths all at once. There is discussion of mental health and therapy (with one family being in support and active in mental recovery, the other reluctant), thoughts and discussion on how someone can go from being a great brother to a mean and racist killer (the delve into noticing and acknowledging the truth of that descent was really well penned). There is also some bordering on science fiction with the discussion of wormholes and time travel but the whole subject is also just a vehicle for the girls to realize you can't change the past but you can acknowledge it and move on.
I really loved Warga's middle grade debut Other Words for Homeand The Shape of Thunder really solidifies her ability to write the inner monologues of kids with all their facets. It's not a happy book but it's also not entirely sad, which is impressive given it's subject. This book would be great for juvenile book clubs (or even adult book clubs) with discussions of mental health, right/wrong and how they overlap, and friendship/forgiveness. I highly recommend that everyone reads this book!