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About The Grief Keeper
Product Description This stunning YA debut is a timely and heartfelt speculative narrative about healing, faith, and freedom. Seventeen-year-old Marisol has always dreamed of being American, learning what Americans and the US are like from television and Mrs. Rosen, an elderly expat who had employed Marisol's mother as a maid. When she pictured an American life for herself, she dreamed of a life like Aimee and Amber's, the title characters of her favorite American TV show. She never pictured fleeing her home in El Salvador under threat of death and stealing across the US border as "an illegal", but after her brother is murdered and her younger sister, Gabi's, life is also placed in equal jeopardy, she has no choice, especially because she knows everything is her fault. If she had never fallen for the charms of a beautiful girl named Liliana, Pablo might still be alive, her mother wouldn't be in hiding and she and Gabi wouldn't have been caught crossing the border. But they have been caught and their asylum request will most certainly be denied. With truly no options remaining, Marisol jumps at an unusual opportunity to stay in the United States. She's asked to become a grief keeper, taking the grief of another into her own body to save a life. It's a risky, experimental study, but if it means Marisol can keep her sister safe, she will risk anything. She just never imagined one of the risks would be falling in love, a love that may even be powerful enough to finally help her face her own crushing grief. The Grief Keeper is a tender tale that explores the heartbreak and consequences of when both love and human beings are branded illegal. From School Library Journal Gr 9 Up—What happens when an undocumented immigrant gets caught? With nowhere else to go, Marisol, who is denied asylum, gets pulled into being a psychological test subject for the U.S. government. Marisol becomes the vessel in which the CTS (corticotropin transfer system) takes place, otherwise known as the grief keeper, an experimental study on how one can take on another's shame, regret, anxiety, and grief—a useful tool for the military soldiers coming back with post-traumatic stress disorder. This hauntingly beautiful story is written in first person and dives into the themes of love and heartbreak. It deals with social issues revolving around female/female love and flawed immigration policies. Although the novel is written with simple language, every topic is tastefully handled and woven into the story. The straightforward style gives younger readers a foot in the door into the themes discussed. In the end it's truly about a girl coming to terms with her life and the pain she has gone through, learning not to be ashamed, and discovering how to love. VERDICT This book will attract those looking for a sci-fi read incorporating all types of love.—Gilly Yildiz, Eisenhower Public Library, Harwood Heights, IL Review Praise for The Grief Keeper: Summer 2019 Kids’ Indie Next List PickSummer/Fall 2019 Indies Introduce Kids’ Debuts List PickA 2020 Rainbow Book List Pick – Young AdultA 2020 Lambda Award Winner – Young Adult “ Hauntingly beautiful.” — School Library Journal “Villasante writes of first love with an authentic voice, beautifully capturing its nervousness, excitement, and awe. . . A story worth reading.” — Booklist “In her debut, Villasante captures the pressures of internalized racism in immigrants... Will grip readers and provoke empathy.” — Kirkus Reviews “Villasante’s novel is for the reader who wants to get down and dirty with the emotional landscape, who wants a romance that is hard-earned and sweetly won. The Grief Keeper...[creates] a realistic yet still hopeful world seen through the gaze of an intelligent, curious protagonist.” —Shelf Awareness “[An ] engrossing debut. . . Villasante builds her novel about undocumented immigrants into a suspenseful story with credible relationships, satisfying character development, and elements of s
