If You're Reading This

In Trent Reedy’s latest novel, If You’re Reading This, main character, Mike Wilson's father was killed while serving in Afghanistan eight years earlier when Mike was just seven years old. A few weeks before his 16th birthday, Mike receives an envelope in the mail with no return address.  The envelope contains a letter addressed to him written by his father and begins, “If you’re reading this, then I’m very sorry, but I didn’t make it home. “.  And so begins a series of letters Mike receives from his father (the sender was instructed to send them just before Mike’s 16th birthday), each containing words of wisdom on how to handle issues that may arise as he begins his sophomore year of high school, and each concluding with a mission from his father.  These missions include generic tasks like “try something new” or “do something nice for your mother and sister”.  

The letters arrive sporadically and in between each letter Mike continues to work his part time job at a nearby farm, practices football (without his mother’s knowledge), and struggles to understand a new turn in his relationship with friend, Isma, a young girl in his class who is from Iran. There are multiple conflicts in the story, but the main one involves Mike trying to uncover the identity of the person sending the letters so he can get more information about how his father died and what kind of man his father was.  

Reedy created a realistic, high-school, character who is forced to juggle the ups and down of adolescence in addition to the responsibilities of helping his single mother, who has struggled to move on after the death of her husband.  The pacing of this book was on target as I felt compelled to continue reading as each chapter ended.  Reedy also does an excellent job with the sports scenes, which this football fan appreciated greatly!  It is also apparent that the book was written by someone with first hand experience serving in the military, specifically in  Afghanistan. Mike’s father provides details in the letters of the conditions of the base in which they are staying and how the soldiers’ attitudes toward the Afghans they were protecting gradually changed.   Those scenes were especially poignant.  I liked the fact that the loss Mike experienced happened many years earlier and the focus of the story wasn’t a recent death.  The novel does a great job of showcasing how the loss is continually felt, especially during the difficult transition between childhood and young adulthood.  

In the six years I have been working in my current school, I have known at least one student per year suffer the loss of a parent. I can’t imagine the unbearable loss those children felt, especially at a time in their life when so much parent guidance and support is needed.  Some of those deaths were sudden and unexpected, but a few of them were due to long term illnesses.  While I was reading Reedy’s novel, I couldn't help but think of my own students who have lost a parent and wished/hoped each of them had this wonderful gift that was given to Mike.  The book also reminded me of the continual care we need to provide to students who have lost a parent.  The need isn't just immediate, but ongoing through each stage of adolescence.

This is a wonderful book that captures the frustrations of a teenager trying to please everyone, but also trying to stay true to himself and the memory of his father.  I highly recommend it for middle and high school students.