All We Know of Heaven

Starred review from May 26, 2008
Riveting, compassionate and psychologically nuanced, Mitchard's (Now You See Her
) second YA novel reimagines the macabre true story that is also the subject of the current bestselling memoir Mistaken Identity
(reviewed online). She brings to her treatment an emotional depth that balances the sensational plot: after a car crash, a 16-year-old lies in a coma, wondering at first if she is dead; meanwhile, friends and family bury the girl's best friend, a victim of the same accident. Weeks pass before the girl emerges from the coma and begins trying to say her name—and before various inconsistencies alert the hospital staff that the girls have been misidentified. Both major and minor characters move through this novel with their histories succinctly evoked: readers will understand how each arrives at this shocking moment, and they will marvel at the acuity with which Mitchard moves them forward. As the survivor, Maureen, recovers—incompletely, as she is left with brain injuries—she struggles to redefine herself in the wake of powerful mixed reactions from her small-town community, including both sets of parents, reactions that intensify as she and her late friend's boyfriend explore previously submerged feelings for each other. Utterly gripping, and far more compelling than the factual version. Ages 12–up.

June 1, 2008
Gr 9 Up-When two friends are in a car accident, one is killed and the other horribly injured and left in a coma. The girls are misidentified, and it's Bridget's parents and boyfriend who sit by the bedside waiting for her to awaken, while Maureen is actually the one alive. When Maureen awakens, it becomes apparent that a funeral was held for the wrong teen. The family of the one who survived is understandably overjoyed, but Bridget's is thrown into chaos. In addition to relearning to walk, speak, and even think properly, Maureen has to deal with the guilt of hurting Bridget's family, the loss of her best friend, and her emerging feelings for Bridget's boyfriend. Mitchard's novel was inspired by a recent national headline, though she changed several of the details. One of the author's strengths is how she moves between the points of view of all of her characters, clearly illustrating the different emotions of the people in the town. She doesn't shy away, either, from the reality of recovering from a brain injury. It is clear that Maureen will never have the same abilities she once did. The romantic relationship between her and Danny seems unrealistic, but it adds an element of normalcy to a story that could otherwise be too tragic and heavy. Girls who love to read melodrama and tragedy will enjoy this novel."Stephanie L. Petruso, Anne Arundel County Public Library, Odenton, MD"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2008
Both 16, Bridget and Maureen, best friends and neighbors in small-town Minnesota, look a lot alike, and when Maureens car crashes and the driver dies, everyone assumes that Maureen has been killed and its Bridget who lingers in a coma. Later, however, dental records prove that its Maureen who has survived, and Bridgets family and boyfriend must suddenly cope with their grief, while Maureens family joyfully helps her through the months of recovery. The situation may be highly dramatic, but details seem to overwhelm the storyalong with minutiae of Maureens brain injury, therapy, and recovery, come the emotions of the family members who find themselves suddenly in mourning. Theres also Maureens relationship with Danny (kind, wise, and totally gorgeous), with whom she has sex. Give this to readers who like descriptive stories; theyll relish the specifics and be caught up by the tabloid drama, as well as by the survivor guilt that makes Maureen feel as if shes being punished for living.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)

May 1, 2008
Part soap opera, part Oliver Sacks case study, Mitchard's second young adult novel, based on a nearly inconceivable real-life tragedy, involves two teenage girls misidentified after a car accident. Look-alikes as well as best friends, Bridget and Maureen are popular cheerleaders in their small Minnesota town. Both are severely injured when Maureen's car swerves over the center line in front of a semi; one girl dies in the operating room, while the other remains disfigured and in a coma for weeks, finally waking up to find everyone calling her by the wrong name. Deft switches in perspective convey the extent of the entire community's emotional devastation, beyond that of the set of parents who must trade their elation at their child's survival for the deep grief, bitterness, and confusion of discovering that she actually lies buried in her best friend's grave. Mitchard's detailed account of the survivor's physical and neurological recovery process adds a substantive layer to the narrative, balancing out the almost Harlequin-level romance that develops in the aftermath between the girl and her friend's former boyfriend. True love or the brain's ability to heal: it's hard to say from the evidence which is the most invincible.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2008
Popular cheerleaders Bridget and Maureen are severely injured in a car accident; one girl dies while the other, disfigured and in a coma, wakes up to everyone calling her the wrong name. Deft switches in perspective convey the community's emotional devastation. Mitchard's detailed account of the survivor's physical and neurological recovery process adds a substantive layer to the narrative.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)