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    The Ethan I Was Before
    The Ethan I Was Before
    The Ethan I Was Before
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Ethan I Was Before

    Written by Ali Standish

    Narrated by Kirby Heyborne

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    “Readers will be riveted.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) 

    The Ethan I Was Before is an award-winning story of love and loss, wonder and adventure, and ultimately of hope.

    Lost in the Sun meets The Thing About Jellyfish in Ali Standish’s breathtaking debut. A poignant middle grade novel of friendship and forgiveness, this is a classic in the making.

    Ethan had been many things. He was always ready for adventure and always willing to accept a dare, especially from his best friend, Kacey. But that was before. Before the accident that took Kacey from him. Before his family moved from Boston to the small town of Palm Knot, Georgia.

    Palm Knot may be tiny, but it’s the home of possibility and second chances. It’s also home to Coralee, a girl with a big personality and even bigger stories. Coralee may be just the friend Ethan needs, except Ethan isn’t the only one with secrets. Coralee’s are catching up with her, and what she’s hiding might be putting both their lives at risk.

    Okra Pick (Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance) * Indie Introduce Pick * Indie Next Pick * Goodreads Choice Award Semifinalist * Carnegie Medal Longlist Title * Southern Book Prize Longlist Title * A Bank Street Best Book of the Year * A Children's Book Review Best Book of the Year * Georgia Children's Book Award Nominee * Recipient of the North Carolina Young People's Literature Award

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJan 24, 2017
    ISBN9780062660961
    Author

    Ali Standish

    Ali Standish is the award-winning author of books for the young and young at heart, including the Carnegie-nominated The Ethan I Was Before, August Isle, Bad Bella, The Climbers, How to Disappear Completely, The Mending Summer, and Yonder. Her books are Junior Library Guild Selections, have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, ALA Booklist, and School Library Journal, have been named as Indie Next titles, and have been nominated for Goodreads Choice Awards. During her years living in a tumbledown Victorian cottage in the UK, she obtained a master’s degree in children’s literature from the University of Cambridge. She now resides in North Carolina with her husband and son. You can visit her online at alistandish.com.

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    Reviews for The Ethan I Was Before

    4.5/5

    32 ratings3 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Ethan and Coralee are two characters I can’t stop thinking about. Their story is so sad and yet hopeful that I wanted them to make it beyond the hurts from their pasts. Ethan’s family has moved in with his grandfather in a small seaside town in Georgia so that Ethan can have a fresh start. Ethan is feeling guilty because of an accident that happened to his best friend. He meets outspoken fun Coralee at school and feels like this friendship is helping him, but Coralee has secrets and tells stories that people say aren’t true. I loved this story with its adventure, and struggles, big and small, that many kids have to deal with. Interwoven in this main story are side stories and characters that come alive too. I can recommend this to older kids and adults.
    • 5/5
      Excellent, heartwarming, young adult novel about a young boy dealing with losing his best friend. A must read.
    • 5/5
      Ethan's best friend Kasey was in a tragic accident and it was all Ethan's fault. In that moment, Ethan was changed forever. Can Ethan move on? Can Ethan ever get his care-free life back?Wow. Words cannot describe how much I enjoyed this book. I could not put it down. The characters were real, flawed, and struggling to deal with their own demons. When Ethan meets the many colorful characters in his new town, I love how Ethan learns from them and learns how to forgive himself. This is a must-read book for grades four and up. Do not let this one sit on your TBR pile for long!