Grief in the Fourth Dimension
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Jul 16, 2024
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- $9.99
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- Pre-Order
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Jennifer Yu’s Grief in the Fourth Dimension is a moving and unique speculative YA novel about the afterlife and the unexpected connections that can be made in death.
In life, high school classmates Caroline Davison and Kenny Zhou existed in separate universes—Caroline in one of softball practices and family dinners; Kenny in one of NASA photo books and late-night shifts at his parents’ Chinese restaurant. But after their deaths, they find themselves thrown together as roommates in a mysterious white room—one that seems to exist outside of time and space, shows them their loved ones’ lives on a large hi-def TV, and grants their wishes with a sardonic sense of humor.
As Caroline and Kenny watch life continue to unfold back on Earth, they realize they can influence events through radio signals, psychic mediums, and electromagnetic interference. In their efforts to console their families, they also start to understand the tragic depth of how their lives and deaths were connected and how to help their families—and themselves—heal from the losses.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This richly rendered speculative novel by Yu (Imagine Us Happy) follows deceased high school seniors Kenny Zhou and Caroline Davison, who find themselves in pseudo-purgatory, a stark-white room outfitted with a television that shows them what's happening to their loved ones back in the land of the living. A mysterious entity seemingly able to read their thoughts sends them notes commenting on the scenarios playing out on screen, and the teens soon realize that they can influence situations occurring in the real world in small, surreptitious ways. They resolve to help each other accomplish personal goals: Kenny will save his family's struggling restaurant and Caroline will assist her family in finding justice and closure regarding the circumstances of her death. As the duo watch the events unfold, they learn more about their own hidden connections and come to terms with the impact that their deaths have on their communities. Yu's prose sings with lush and powerful empathy and makes good on the novel's wild premise by blending humor and pathos with fantastical worldbuilding and genuine emotional stakes. Caroline reads as white; Kenny is of Chinese descent. Ages 14–up.
