Five Stages of Andrew Brawley

Hutchinson, Shaun. The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley. Simon Pulse, 2015.

Andrew lives in the hospital.  His parents and little sister were killed in a car accident, so now he sneaks around the hospital, hiding from social workers and befriending the nurses.  One night a boy is brought in with severe burns. He says he got them when some boys through rubbing alcohol on him and set him on fire because he's gay. Andrew reads to Rusty and tries to ease his suffering.  But Andrew is suffering, too; all of his work in the hospital is a sort of penance, because he killed his family ...

This was a well-done book.  It reminded me a bit of the show Red Band Society.  Andrew (not his real name) is friends with the hospital staff and a couple of teens who are cancer patients, and he is desperately trying not to be found. All of that blows up in his face when he falls in love with Rusty, though.  This book is scattered with pages of Andrew's comic book about Patient F.  I love the way the story all fell together at the end, the way Andrew referred to the social worker as Death, and I was glad for Andrew and Rusty's relationship.  This is a good read-alike for fans of John Green.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: language, suicide attempts
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

Read-Alikes: The Fault in Our Stars, All the Bright Places, The Before Now and After Then