All We Know of Heaven

Ever since I read "The Most Wanted" years ago I've been in love with Jacquelyn Mitchard's writing style. Her use of words and sentence structure to convey atmosphere, her excellently constructed complex human relationships and maybe most of all-the way she portrays teenagers as real people in their own light-as adults who are just undergoing a lot of change. There's a real sense of respect for her younger characters and as a teenager I just adored her for it. It can be frustrating when in adult novels teens come off as lesser beings. I'm not a teenager anymore and "All we know of Heaven" isn't one of Mitchard's adult novels but one I read about the plot I couldn't resist it. Based on a real life accident that occurred some years ago this book is the story of two best friends, Bridget and Maureen. Bridge and Maury live across the street from each other and do everything together. They even look alike and are the same height and weight-and have the same body type thanks to their cheerleading. So when the girls are in a horrific car accident and mangled almost beyond recognition they're identified by who was sitting in what seat in the car-Maureen's car. The driver dies. The passenger lives, but is in a coma and horribly damaged. And everyone thinks they know what's going on when all of a sudden the passenger wakes up. And she's not Bridget. The case of mistaken identity stirs everything up. One set of parents is elated, the other broken. Friends are confused. And Danny, Bridget's boyfriend and Maureen's friend doesn't know what to think. Maureen is physically, emotionally and mentally damaged, terrified, angry and hungry for life all at once. We watch, as over the course of two years Maureen, and the whole community, struggle to get back to their new normal. This is a really fantastic novel. It's a story of tragedy and hope, renewal and death, romance, growth and forgiveness. And strength most of all. I've never read a book where so many difficult emotions were portrayed so clearly and vividly. The grief of the families and friends, joy mixed with sorrow, hatred, love...it's all there. And it's so wonderful-the characters are so vivid they might be right in front of you telling you their story. Be prepared to cry. My reasons for loving Jacquelyn Mitchard still hold true. Teen or adult, it doesn't matter. I think I'd read anything she wrote. Five stars.

wonderful characters, great story If only real life could be so tidy at the end!

usually when i read a book, it doesnt affect me like this one did. It was amazing. I really understood it because recently a friend died in a car wreck at 16, and the other lived. it is so sad to go through this, i am 16 and i have had the sme boyfriend for a long time, so i can really relate to it. this book was so good and touched me deaply. i would recommend this book to everyone. I cried a few times in class while reading; it was that good.

I finished ALL WE KNOW OF HEAVEN last night and it's been on my mind all day today. What I find intriguing is that it's been packaged as a YA novel when I think it's a wonderful novel for all ages. Jacquelyn Mitchard has the innate and rare gift of knowing how to tell a story well. With seamless skill, she introduces readers to two young girls who could easily live in your own neighborhood, then she grabs you by the throat and takes you on an up/down roller coaster ride that will leave you flipping the pages well into the night. I can't see how anyone could read this novel and NOT think about the characters and what they went through for days and months to come.

I have read and reviewed many books over the past two years that have impressed me. I have read only a handful, however, that have touched me as deeply as ALL WE KNOW OF HEAVEN. This is a book that's hard to describe in detail, due mainly to the fact that I don't want to give too much of the story away. Suffice it to say, however, that it's a story that will stay with you long after you've turned the last page. Two girls, Bridget and Maureen, who are so similar and yet so different at the same time. They have nearly identical body shapes, have the same colored hair and eyes, and even share many of the same mannerisms and characteristics. They've been best friends for several years, and yet there's a part of Maureen that understands that Bridget considers her to be her friend out of convenience, and for what she can provide for her. Then there is an accident, a deadly one, and the lives of two girls and their families are forever changed. One girl dies, one girl lives. One family buries their daughter, one rejoices and yet fears over the fact that their daughter, now forever changed, lies unconscious and unknowing in a hospitable bed. Yet through it all, interspersed throughout the pages of the story, are the tangled thoughts of a young woman, who is unable to grasp even the simplest words and put them to the images she sees, yet who understands the concept that she's not the girl everyone seems to think she is. The wrong daughter buried, the wrong family rejoicing. Fear, regret, heartbreak, happiness, hope -- and with it all, through it all, tinged by it all, lies guilt. Guilt that one girl survived, and one didn't. Guilt that one mother once hoped her daughter might die, to spare them all the pain of a long recovery. Guilt that one family's prayers seemed to be answered, and another's joy was cut short. Guilt that one girl is not the other, could never be the other, and yet seems to be stepping into the life that girl left behind. Jacquelyn Mitchard can write. She writes so well, in fact, that the reader is unable to step outside of the story of Maureen and Bridget once they've begun reading it. You can feel the pain, the happiness, the sorrow. You understand, and you grieve, and you rejoice, right along with the characters of ALL WE KNOW OF HEAVEN. This is a story you won't soon forget -- nor will you want to. Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"