A Year to the Day by Robin Benway

A YEAR TO THE DAY is written by Robin Benway, an extremely talented writer who also wrote Audrey Wait! and whose previous book, Far From the Tree, won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and the PEN America award. Benway showcases her strength further by writing in reverse chronological order in this new young adult novel which explores grief and loss. As the title indicates, it opens 365 days after; yes, it has been one year since high school sophomore Leo’s older sister, Nina, died. Benway deftly probes the huge array of emotions that pummel Leo: “the future which seemed so definite and assured that it makes Leo want to laugh now, laugh at how stupid she was for thinking that any of it had been guaranteed.” The reader experiences the complexity and confusion of grief with East, Nina’s boyfriend, and her parents, including kind-hearted step-mom Stephanie. Varied references to music, conversations, gifts of books on coping with grief, and the holidays all convey the passage of time as background for Leo’s pain: “She can’t make eye contact because she knows it will shatter her and she needs to keep it together for everyone else’s sake.” A YEAR TO THE DAY is an intense and powerful read; if anything, the emotions seem to become even stronger as the novel moves closer to its end and the actual accident.