Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Personal Effects
    Unavailable
    Personal Effects
    Unavailable
    Personal Effects
    Audiobook9 hours

    Personal Effects

    Written by E. M. Kokie

    Narrated by Nick Podehl

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Seventeen-year-old Matt Foster thought that if he could only get his hands on his brother's stuff from Iraq, he'd be able to make sense of his death. He wasn't expecting T.J.'s personal effects to raise even more questions about his life.

    Now, even if it means pushing his dad over the edge…

    even if it means losing his best friend…

    even if it means getting expelled from school…

    Matt will do whatever it takes to find out the truth about his brother's past.

    With compassion, humor, and a compelling narrative voice, E. M. Kokie explores grief and self-discovery in this powerful first novel.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateSep 11, 2012
    ISBN9781469206820
    Unavailable
    Personal Effects

    Related to Personal Effects

    Related audiobooks

    YA Social Themes For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Life after Harry

      Jun 12, 2020

      Life after Harry
      2 min read

    • Article

      Pulling Up Azaleas

      Jan 10, 2023

      Throughout their lives, women are showered with bouquets of roses on numerous splendid occasions. But men? They’re only given flowers at their funeral. It’s a harsh world for men, as our lives tend to go unappreciated until death. Such was the case a

      22 min read

    • Article

      You’re The Dirty Rascal

      Apr 6, 2023

      You’re The Dirty Rascal
      5 min read

    • Article

      Book The Good Sister

      Oct 29, 2020

      Laced with her usual quirky humour, sass and darkly charming tone, Australian author Sally Hepworth brings her latest tome – tipped to be her breakout – to shelves. Delivering a knockout novel about the lies that bind two sisters, Hepworth tells the

      1 min read

    • Article

      TV Pieces Of Her

      Mar 24, 2022

      TV Pieces Of Her
      1 min read

    • Article

      Is Lisa Kudrow A Secret Hollywood Mean Girl?

      Sep 11, 2022

      Move over Ellen – beloved Friends actress Lisa Kudrow’s past is coming back to haunt her after a string of celebrities have come forward with stories of alleged “rude” behaviour by the star. Most shocking of all is The Hills reality show star Spencer

      2 min read

    • Article

      HOW TO… Install Google Play Store on your Amazon Fire tablet

      Jan 4, 2023

      What you need: Amazon Fire tablet (2018 onwards) Time required: 30 minutes What do Duolingo, Gmail and Firefox have in common? Despite being among the most popular apps on Android and iOS, none of them can be downloaded through the Amazon Appstore. T

      6 min read

    • Article

      Summer Reads

      Dec 30, 2019

      Summer Reads
      7 min read

    • Article

      Plunge Into Summer With The 10 Best Books Of July

      Jul 7, 2020

      Whether you’re hitting the road or staying put, a bumper crop of summer reads offers a welcome distraction. Dig right in.

      2 min read

    • Article

      A New Way to Read Gatsby

      Feb 1, 2023

      A New Way to Read Gatsby
      8 min read

    • Article

      Pentiment

      Apr 2, 2024

      Pentiment
      3 min read

    • Article

      Did Dad Do It?

      Feb 23, 2024

      Did Dad Do It?
      3 min read

    • Article

      ‘I Felt I Could End Up In A Gulag’

      Mar 27, 2023

      It’s the mid-’80s in Moscow. The communists have been in power for nearly 70 years. The Cold War is rumbling on, the threat of nuclear apocalypse feels very real. At the Moscow Medical Institute, they have a productivity problem – which, in a society

      8 min read

    • Article

      Cards Were A Level Playing Field

      Dec 11, 2019

      Cards Were A Level Playing Field
      2 min read

    • Article

      My Favourite Game Logan Marshall-Green

      Oct 10, 2019

      Logan Marshall-Green is an actor and director known for starring in The O.C. and 24, as well as starring in Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and horror-thriller The Invitation. Here, still buzzing from his first videogame acting role in Sam Barlow’s Telling

      3 min read

    Reviews for Personal Effects

    4/5

    30 ratings10 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      What a frustrating book. At times I loved its honest and brutal look at grief and the turmoil and rage that comes with losing someone you love. On the other hand there were times I wanted this book to just get on with it and stop with the internal monologue of the main character because he was so incredibly self-absorbed and obnoxious. Yes, the MC is a hormonal teenager with anger and dad issue, but there was just too much at times. There was also a female character introduced late in the second act that was very flat and one-dimensional and really slowed down the story when it should have been amping up to the emotional climax. She pissed me off to be honest.
      Almost a 2 star but bumped up to 3 because I could see this being the perfect book for a teen going through something similar. Also Nick Podehl is a great narrator and probably the only reason I stuck to the end.
    • 4/5
      Taut writing for a tense, compelling story. Raw, real, and emotionally charged. An impressive debut.
    • 4/5
      After Matt's brother is killed in Iraq, all Matt wants is something of his brother's to remember him by. His father, overly strict and abusive, has reacted to the loss by hiding everything of T.J.'s and cracking down on Matt. When T.J.'s personal effects are delivered, Matt gets a chance to sneak a peak, and discovers letters to a family in Wisconsin - people he has never heard of, but who were very close to his brother. Matt goes on a quest to deliver his brother's last letter to its intended recipient.
    • 3/5
      Matt has been sleepwalking through life while seeking answers about his brother T.J.'s death in Iraq, but after discovering that he may not have known his brother as well as he thought he did, Matt is able to stand up to his father, honor T.J.'s memory, and take charge of his own life.
    • 4/5
      Loved. This. Book. Personal Effects is the story of Matt Foster who is struggling to come to terms with his older brother's death in Iraq several months ago. Matt's grieving process is made even more difficult because of his turbulent home life. His father a retired Army officer offers no kind words or safety net to help his remaining son to come to terms with T.J's death. When T.J.'s personal effects are delivered home Matt looks through his brother's things and discovers he had a life that he knew little about. This story is well written and realistic. The author deals with several tough subjects in an honest way. I loved most all of the book's character's except for Matt's father. I cried at the book's end. I'm hoping there is a sequel. I would love to see where everyone lands.
    • 4/5
      Loosing someone you love is hard. Loosing someone who has left behind secrets is harder. Why? Well, they left something behind. A part of them they never told you. If you had to chance to find out the secret would you?What I enjoyed most about this book is the searching for the secret. The reading of letters. The searching through a room that has not been touched for over a year. The elation of finding what your sibling has been hiding this whole time. While reading this, lots of emotions go through me. I feel excited yet scared. I feel angry yet happy.While this is going on, there is a love interest that is forming. I enjoyed watching this friendship flourished. Trusting each other with what you found, breaking all the rules and doing what you've always wanted to do. Really, this part of the book touched my heart. I so loved watching them argue yet sacrifice for one another.Personal Effect is deep heart-felt tale. One of loss and a new found love, Kokie weaves a powerful story. A phenomenal plot from start to finish, Personal Effects is brilliant!
    • 5/5
      Amazing book. A book written by a woman but so good at represent men
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed listening to this audiobook, but I'm not sure I would have liked it as much in print. It is great to get a sibling's perspective of dealing with the death of a soldier, and Kokie seems to nail the male perspective as well (not being a boy, I can't say for sure, but it feels authentic). The added element of the mystery of TJ's secret life adds a richness to the story that can be appreciated by a wider audience than those who would only gravitate toward this book because of the war/grief aspect. As always, Nick Podehl is outstanding, and this production certainly deserved to be in the Top Ten Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults in 2013.
    • 4/5
      There are more and more YA books coming out with military themes and this one is a stellar example. It's historical in the sense that it is set in 2006 but is current in many of its themes. By the end of it, I was definitely weepy. A very good read.
    • 4/5
      After Matt's brother is killed in Iraq, all Matt wants is something of his brother's to remember him by. His father, overly strict and abusive, has reacted to the loss by hiding everything of T.J.'s and cracking down on Matt. When T.J.'s personal effects are delivered, Matt gets a chance to sneak a peak, and discovers letters to a family in Wisconsin - people he has never heard of, but who were very close to his brother. Matt goes on a quest to deliver his brother's last letter to its intended recipient.