Personal Effects

Author(s): E. M. Kokie

Young Adult Fiction

Ever since his brother, T.J., was killed in Iraq, Matt feels like he’s been sleepwalking through life — failing classes, getting into fights, and avoiding his dad’s lectures about following in his brother’s footsteps. T.J.’s gone, but Matt can’t shake the feeling that if only he could get his hands on his brother’s stuff from Iraq, he’d be able to make sense of his death. But as Matt searches for answers about T.J.’s death, he faces a shocking revelation about T.J.’s life that suggests he may not have known T.J. as well as he thought. What he learns challenges him to stand up to his father, honor his brother’s memory, and take charge of his own life. With compassion, humor, and a compelling narrative voice, E. M. Kokie explores grief, social mores, and self-discovery in a provocative first novel.


Product Information

My debut YA novel PERSONAL EFFECTS(Candlewick Press, 2012) was a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults selection and an Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults Top Ten, a Lambda Literary Award Finalist, and a 2013 IRA Young Adult Honor Book. I have short stories in two 2015 anthologies -- Things I'll Never Say: Stories About Our Secret Selves (Candlewick Press, March 2015) and Violent Ends (Simon Pulse, Fall 2015). As a lawyer, I love a good story and a good debate. I like to have the last word.

General Fields

  • : 9780763669362
  • : candlewick
  • : candlewick
  • : March 2012
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : 341
  • : English
  • : PAPERBACK
  • : E. M. Kokie