After Eli by Rebecca Rupp

Title: After Eli

Author: Rebecca Rupp

Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 5668967

Description:  After the death of his older brother, Daniel Anderson became engrossed in recording details about dead people, how they died, and whether their deaths mattered but he is eventually drawn back into interaction with the living.

Rubric Rating:  Level 4 - Love It

Why I Read It:  Read as an ebook on my Perma-Bound eHub account.

Notes: Daniel loves his older brother Eli, he looks up to him, admires him, goes to him for advice.  So when Eli is killed during a military mission, Dan is heartbroken and a little lost. His mother retreats into herself, and his father can’t help but criticize his academic and decisions.  Rather than go to summer school Dan gets a job on a farm and finds he likes it. He also takes a look at his life, his family and his friends. When he runs into Walter, the school geek, in the cemetery and begins to understand how his mind works, he begins to understand what his brother says about friendship, and when Isabelle moves to town he begins to understand a little about love.  But mostly it’s a journey of self-discovery, who he is and where he belongs. This was a fantastic book and a rather quick read. I really liked Danny’s book of the dead and incorporating other strange or interesting deaths into the story as a coping mechanism. I loved Walter’s character – his ability to understand and explain things to Danny. I liked Isabelle’s whimsy and the twins t-shirts made me laugh.  This book did make me cry but in a sad reminiscence sort of way.

Favourite Lines:
Pg 66 – “No, darling, that’s what you do,” she said.  “That not who you are. Tell me who who are. What do you love? What do you hate?  Whom do you admire? If you could be a month of the year, what month would you be?”
Page 199 – A real friend is someone who likes you for who you want to be and not for who they want you to be. 
Page 245 – It’s just hard that one it sometimes means leaving people behind.

Recommended Readers:  Grade 7 and up.  Good selection for Grade 9 and 10 applied level English classes.

Themes:  Death and Dying, Mourning and Loss, Brothers, Families, Friendship, Life, Choices, Self-Discovery, Memory, Books and Reading

Cross-Genre Links:
Websearch: Strange deaths
Health and Wellness: Dealing with grief
Movie: The Patriot
Music: He ain't heavy, he's my brother by the Hollies
Poem: “Nothing gold can stay” by Robert Frost.

Inquiries and Activities:

• How do Dan and Walter become friends? 
• How do Danny, his mother, and father each deal with Eli’s death. 
• What sort of advice does Eli give his brother?
• Write a letter to a sibling like Eli did for Daniel.  (Or a friends or a parent).
• What would you most want to tell them.
• All of Dan’s family have an E to begin their name except Dan why do you think the author would do that? 
• Similarly, Eli calls Daniel Dan leaving off the iel (an anagram of Eli) how are Eli and Dan similar and how are they different?
• How do Jim and Emma help Dan?
• Who is your favourite character and why? 
• Why is Daniel worried about not being part of the “in” crowd?
• What sorts of things does Eli teach Daniel on his “education days” What would you most like to learn?