The Thing About Jellyfish
Ali Benjamin

The Thing About Jellyfish
Ali Benjamin
It’s peculiar how no-words can be better than words. How silence can say more than noise, or a person’s absence can occupy even more space than their presence did.
Review
by Katherine Dretzke
Grief is a topic that is often explored in young adult fiction, where some of the most traumatic experiences can be examined in full detail. However, when it comes to tackling such an issue in middle-fiction novels it has to be done in a gentle way due to the age of the reader. The Thing About Jellyfish walks this line precisely.
When Suzy finds out that her best friend has drowned she is not only wracked with grief – and heartbroken that their last encounter was awful – but she is also in disbelief that such a good swimmer could die by drowning. When she visits the aquarium on a school excursion, Suzy encounters a jellyfish native to Australia but that may be migrating towards the north due to climate change. This highly deadly jellyfish gets Suzy thinking and, in turn, researching the possibility that her friend may have died from a jellyfish sting.
The Thing About Jellyfish shows the impact grief can have on a person, even young people. The disbelief, inability to accept and constant guilt for things passed are all explored in this beautifully written novel. Writing on such a topic for middle readers can be hard to get right, but Ali Benjamin has done it perfectly.
Ages 11 and up.
Katherine Dretzke is a bookseller at Readings Hawthorn
This item is not currently in-stock. It can be ordered online and is expected to ship in 2-14 days
We are currently experiencing delays in processing and delivering online orders. Click here for more information.
Please note, our stock data is updated overnight, and availability may change throughout the day. Prices are subject to change without notice.Sign in or become a Readings Member to add this title to a wishlist.

Goodbye Stranger
$16.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

I Kill the Mockingbird
$12.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

The Thing About Jellyfish
$16.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

The Fourteenth Summer of Angus Jack
$16.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Stonebird
$17.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Molly And Pim And The Millions Of Stars
$14.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

The ACB With Honora Lee
$22.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Prisoner of the Black Hawk: The Mapmaker Chronicles Book 2 - the bestselling series for fans of Emily Rodda and Rick Riordan
$14.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Goodbye Stranger
$16.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

The Cut Out
$14.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

The Thing About Jellyfish
$16.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

A Single Stone
$16.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Crow Country
$15.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

The Ratcatcher’s Daughter
$16.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Playing Beatie Bow
$16.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Skink No Surrender
$17.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...