Other Side of Tomorrow
Hayley Lawrence
Publisher: Scholastic Australia
ISBN: 9781760976453
Awards Year: 2023
Category: Book of the Year: Older Readers

Blurb

What if you thought you had forever ... To live your life. To tell your story. But what if forever was taken from you? When your tomorrows are counted, all you have is this moment. And this story you wish was never yours to tell. When Abby traded her life in the city for a wholesome new life on the coast, it was meant to be a fresh start for her family. Behind them was the sickness and sadness of the past. But sickness doesn't always play by the rules. And as Abby's past threatens to swallow her future, she is forced to decide what is most important. What she will fight for. And she will fight. For however many days she has left.

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The CBCA judges say...

This beautifully written novel manages to perfectly balance ongoing grief and sadness with the ordinary everday-ness of life in a positive way. Authentic characters and character development support a storyline that feels genuine and realistic in its arc, with its rapid pace mirroring the onset of the disease and deterioration of the main character. The themes of family, love, loss, grief, death, and life after death are gently explored without preaching, and these serious elements are set against the aspects of first love, adventure and friendship. The author handles the intense emotions of the story deftly and without artifice - every laugh and tear the reader experiences is earned. While the story is told almost entirely through Abby's eyes, voice and feelings, it is flagged quite early on that the outcome of the book is inevitable. Absolutely heartbreaking and real.

 

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