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It's peculiar how no-words can be better than words. How silence can say more than noise, or a person's absence can occupy even more space than their presence did.

Suzy is twelve when her best friend, Franny, drowns one summer at the beach. It takes two days for the news to reach Suzy, and it's not something that she can accept: Franny has always been a strong swimmer, from the day they met in swim class when they were just five. How can someone all of a sudden, just no longer be there?

Suzy realizes that they must have got it wrong: Franny didn't just drown - she was stung by a poisonous jellyfish. This makes a lot more sense to Suzy's logical mind than a random drowning - cause: a jellyfish sting; effect: death.

Suzy's journey to acceptance is quiet - she resolves to either say something important, or say nothing at all. But it's also bursting with bittersweet humour, heart-breaking honesty, big ideas and small details.

The Thing About Jellyfish is an astonishing debut novel from Ali Benjamin, and is perfect for fans of Wonder, Counting By 7s and My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece. A painful story smartly told, Benjamin's first solo novel has appeal well beyond a middle-school audience * Kirkus Reviews Starred Review * A moving portrayal of loss and healing * Publishers Weekly Starred Review * Benjamin explores the heartbreaking subject of grief in the young with dreamy, meditative and elegiac prose * The New York Times * This is a heartbreakingly touching debut about friendship, loss, fear and love that is funny, clever and beautifully written * Daily Mail * [an] intense and nuanced tale of friendship, revenge and youthful resourcefulness * Guardian * One of the most beautifully written debuts I've read in a really long time -- Sophie * So Many Books, So Little Time *

The Thing about Jellyfish