What about Will

by Ellen Hopkins (Author)

Reading Level: 6th − 7th Grade

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins comes a new heartbreakingly tender middle grade novel-in-verse about the bonds between two brothers and the love they share.

Twelve-year-old Trace Reynolds has always looked up to his brother, mostly because Will, who's five years older, has never looked down on him. It was Will who taught Trace to ride a bike, would watch sports on TV with him, and cheer him on at Little League. But when Will was knocked out cold during a football game, resulting in a brain injury--everything changed.

Now, seventeen months later, their family is still living under the weight of the incident, that left Will with a facial tic, depression, and an anger he cannot always control, culminating in their parents' divorce. Afraid of further fracturing his family, Trace begins to cover for Will who, struggling with addiction to pain medication, becomes someone Trace doesn't recognize. But when the brother he loves so much becomes more and more withdrawn, and escalates to stealing money and ditching school, Trace realizes some secrets cannot be kept if we ever hope to heal.

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Publishers Weekly

In effective verse, Hopkins (Closer to Nowhere) tells an honest and moving portrait of a family in flux as they navigate newfound emotional and physical distance. In Las Vegas, 12-year-old STEM geek and baseball pitcher Trace Reynolds, who is of Puerto Rican and French descent, has always been close to his brother Will, but 17 months after Will experiences a traumatic brain injury during a football game, which results in cranial nerve damage and a facial tic, Trace feels overlooked and unheard. Their parents have divorced following the incident, the siblings' mother has embarked on an endless tour with her band, and their father is focused on work and a new relationship. When 17-year-old Will begins acting uncharacteristically, showing symptoms of depression and uncontrollable anger after his injury, only Trace seems to notice his stealing money, lying, and, most concerningly, suddenly taking new pills. Will's affirming friendships, like that with teammate Catalina Sánchez, who is intimately familiar with the impact of substance abuse, highlight the importance of community support when navigating trauma and addiction. Hopkins tenderly portrays a younger brother learning to advocate for himself and those he loves by speaking up and asking for help. Ages 10-up. Agent: Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary. (Sept.)

Copyright 2021 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

Praise for What About Will

"Heartfelt novel in verse." —Forbes

"Written in her recognizable free-verse style, Hopkins conveys the raw and realistic emotions of a broken family. The book covers multiple tough subjects . . . in a manner that is digestible for a younger audience. What about Will is a story about family, love, loss, hope, and understanding that you don't have to go through hardships alone." —Booklist

"The fears of stable, straight-arrow athlete Trace are clarified in lovely sparks of concrete poetry among Hopkins' free verse, as he learns to tell adults when he sees his beloved brother acting dangerously. Compassionate optimism for a boy who can't control the chaos around him." —Kirkus Reviews

"In effective verse, Hopkins (Closer to Nowhere) tells an honest and moving portrait of a family in flux as they navigate newfound emotional and physical distance...Hopkins tenderly portrays a younger brother learning to advocate for himself and those he loves by speaking up and asking for help." —Publishers Weekly
Ellen Hopkins
Ellen Hopkins is a poet, former journalist, and the award-winning author of twenty nonfiction books for young readers, fourteen bestselling young-adult novels (including The Crank Trilogy, Burned, Impulse, and Tricks series), and four novels for adult readers. This is her second middle-grade novel. Ellen lives with her extended family, two brilliant German shepherds, and a couple of ponds (not pounds) of koi in the eastern shadow of the Northern Nevada Sierra.


Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780593108642
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication date
September 14, 2021
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV015020 - Juvenile Fiction | Health & Daily Living | Diseases, Illnesses & Injuries
JUV057000 - Juvenile Fiction | Stories in Verse (see also Poetry)
JUV013070 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Siblings
JUV039240 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Depression & Mental Illness
Library of Congress categories
Brothers
Novels in verse
Drug abuse
Brain damage

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