Author: Michelle Falkoff
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: January 27, 2015
Synopsis:
A teenage boy tries to understand his best friend's suicide by listening to the playlist of songs he left behind in this smart, voice-driven debut novel.
Here's what Sam knows: There was a party. There was a fight. The next morning, his best friend, Hayden, was dead. And all he left Sam was a playlist of songs, and a suicide note: For Sam—listen and you'll understand.
As he listens to song after song, Sam tries to face up to what happened the night Hayden killed himself. But it's only by taking out his earbuds and opening his eyes to the people around him that he will finally be able to piece together his best friend’s story. And maybe have a chance to change his own.
Part mystery, part love story, and part coming-of-age tale in the vein of Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Tim Tharp’s The Spectacular Now, Playlist for the Dead is an honest and gut-wrenching first novel about loss, rage, what it feels like to outgrow a friendship that's always defined you—and the struggle to redefine yourself. But above all, it's about finding hope when hope seems like the hardest thing to find.
Excerpt
…I stepped into
the cafeteria for the first time since Hayden died. I’d spent most of the morning nodding off in
my classes, but there was this kind of protective bubble
around me—I could tell none of the teachers wanted to say anything to me
because of Hayden. The kids were
friendlier, though—people said hi to me in the halls who’d never spoken to me before,
and some even complimented my t-shirt.
This strange attention from people who used to ignore me was
confusing. It was almost as if they were
treating me like a celebrity.
Best-friend-of-dead-guy=famous.
Like it was some kind of accomplishment.
Before, everyone
pretty much had left me alone. I didn’t
fit into any of the groups—I wasn’t a grind like the brainiacs in my classes,
who looked down on Hayden because they thought he was stupid; I was too
uncoordinated for sports but big enough to be hard to knock over; I wasn’t
artsy or creative or talented at anything; it turned out that the kids in the
gaming club were way too dorky, and they weren’t into music like Hayden and I
were. And the kids who were into the
music we liked looked down on anyone who was into gaming. We couldn’t win.
Anyone who was
anyone at this school fit in somewhere, even if the lines were fluid—jock
brainiacs were still cool, the kids who had the best drugs could hang out with
anyone, that sort of thing. Parties were
fair game for anyone as far as I knew, though Hayden and I hadn’t ventured into
that scene very much. Until we did, and
look where that had gotten us. No, after
that day in the cafeteria I’d figured out it was safest to stick with Hayden,
and apparently the whole school agreed with me.
Some days I wondered whether, if it wasn’t for him, I would talk to a
single person.
…I stepped into
the cafeteria for the first time since Hayden died. I’d spent most of the morning nodding off in
my classes, but there was this kind of protective bubble
around me—I could tell none of the teachers wanted to say anything to me
because of Hayden. The kids were
friendlier, though—people said hi to me in the halls who’d never spoken to me before,
and some even complimented my t-shirt.
This strange attention from people who used to ignore me was
confusing. It was almost as if they were
treating me like a celebrity.
Best-friend-of-dead-guy=famous.
Like it was some kind of accomplishment.
Before, everyone
pretty much had left me alone. I didn’t
fit into any of the groups—I wasn’t a grind like the brainiacs in my classes,
who looked down on Hayden because they thought he was stupid; I was too
uncoordinated for sports but big enough to be hard to knock over; I wasn’t
artsy or creative or talented at anything; it turned out that the kids in the
gaming club were way too dorky, and they weren’t into music like Hayden and I
were. And the kids who were into the
music we liked looked down on anyone who was into gaming. We couldn’t win.
Anyone who was
anyone at this school fit in somewhere, even if the lines were fluid—jock
brainiacs were still cool, the kids who had the best drugs could hang out with
anyone, that sort of thing. Parties were
fair game for anyone as far as I knew, though Hayden and I hadn’t ventured into
that scene very much. Until we did, and
look where that had gotten us. No, after
that day in the cafeteria I’d figured out it was safest to stick with Hayden,
and apparently the whole school agreed with me.
Some days I wondered whether, if it wasn’t for him, I would talk to a
single person.
ReviewI’ve been reading a lot of contemporaries lately with very heavy subject matter. I don’t know what drew me to this sub-genre of YA fiction but I’m glad I found it. There are some seriously skilled authors there that know how to tug on the heartstrings and Michelle Falkoff’s debut is no exception.
Sam’s best friend Hayden committed suicide and all he left was a playlist. Sam and Hayden have been best friends since childhood and after a party Sam takes his life. Following the funeral Sam tries to piece together the puzzle that led to his friend’s death and hopes to find answers in the playlist he left.
One of my favorite aspects of this story was the relationship Sam had with his best friend who committed suicide. They were each others only friends so losing him changed Sam’s entire life and forced him to look to others for answers as to why his friend chose to take his own life.
I also really enjoyed the mystery element this story had. Throughout the novel someone is getting revenge on those that Sam believes are responsible for Hayden’s suicide. Between not sleeping and mourning Sam isn’t sure that the person getting revenge isn’t himself. This psychological element really added to the story.
Overall, although Playlist for the Dead deals with heavy subject matter it is ultimately a hopeful book. It is the story of Sam figuring out who he is and how to live after the loss of his only friend.
Michelle Falkoff's fiction and reviews have been published in ZYZZYVA, DoubleTake, and the Harvard Review, among other places. She is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and currently serves as Director of Communication and Legal Reasoning at Northwestern University School of Law. This is her first novel.About the Author
Various playlists? Yes, yes I do especially for road trips or big events!
ReplyDeleteI definitely create playlists for various moments. I have a high school playlist pre-sophotmore year, a high school playlist sophomore summer-junior year, my college walking around playlist, a playlist that reminded me of times I spent with a friend, a playlist that reminds me of times with another friend, I like playlists.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great giveaway. :) I'm really looking forward to this book.