Goodbye Stranger

Locations
Call Number: Y Fiction / Stead, Rebecca, Kids Book / Fiction / General / Stead, Rebecca
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Malletts Creek Branch, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown Kids Books 4-week checkout	Y Fiction / Stead, Rebecca	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown Kids Books 4-week checkout	Y Fiction / Stead, Rebecca	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown Kids Books 4-week checkout	Y Fiction / Stead, Rebecca	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Malletts Kids Books 4-week checkout	Kids Book / Fiction / General / Stead, Rebecca	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Kids Books 4-week checkout	Kids Book / Fiction / General / Stead, Rebecca	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Kids Books 4-week checkout	Kids Book / Fiction / General / Stead, Rebecca	4-week checkout	Due 04-23-2024

As Bridge makes her way through seventh grade on Manhattan's Upper West Side with her best friends, curvacious Em, crusader Tab, and a curious new friend--or more than friend--Sherm, she finds the answer she has been seeking since she barely survived an accident at age eight: "What is my purpose?"

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

A must read submitted by Lucy S on August 7, 2015, 8:45am For adults, teens and middle grades alike. I loved this book about middle schoolers and young teens that takes place on New York's upper west side. Rebecca Stead does such a good job with portraying teenage angst and growing pains. Also a cautionary tale about the misuse of social media.
Filled with relatable and likable characters and heartwarming.

Technology in context submitted by willow on August 15, 2015, 5:46am This book has elements of many children's books that many adults may be comfortable with such as involved and caring families and teachers, while considering technology of today, primarily text messages, and more specifically "setting." Is this really modern life for most kids and teens, where even divorced parents are on good terms and responsibly raise their child in concert? I doubt it, but it sets the issues of the book in a safe and comfortable realm. (In an interview with NPR, Stead stated she wrote it wanting the characters to have a strong relationship with their parents.)

The format switches between multiple perspectives including one written in the second person by an unidentified narrator, and I did not really care for this attempt at modernization, but I did feel the letters written by Sherm to his grandpa were effective. The kids' lives are filled with drama and emotion about a variety of ultimately insignificant matters, and it can be difficult to keep track of all that is going on.

The issue of sexting is discussed without actual explicit photos but with maximum emotion and communal condemnation of the act as being something that was not good for the girl in question, and Stead tried to create a space for a girl's pride in herself to be maintained.

enjoyable! submitted by manz on July 8, 2016, 10:54am Good ole Rebecca Stead and her lovely writing.

A wonderful read!! submitted by melissafjames on August 31, 2016, 10:34am This a great story about growing up. Despite growing up and changing, friends stick together when their social surrounding shout and scream at them not to. A great and fulfilling read that is a good use of a reader's time!

Lovely and full of love submitted by wendylv on July 17, 2018, 3:55pm I'm a big Rebecca Stead fan since "When You Reach Me" and "Liar and Spy", and "Goodbye Stranger" fits in nicely to make a trilogy. Each book has fully-realized characters to love and a clever story-telling style that has you trying to solve the mystery and find the connections. 6th grade and up will appreciate the messages to love yourself and hold on tight to friendships.

Goodbye submitted by i'm a blobfish on June 14, 2019, 9:52pm I loved this book! It's written in a way where the attention shifts back and forth between two characters, one who isn't revealed until the end. Follow the 3 friends as they work their way through 7th grade. Bridge feels like she's sometimes left out. Tab has got some new opinions she's not afraid to tell the world. Emily has a new body that everyone's about. Can they deal with there problems of 7th grade together, or will they deal with them separately?

A beautiful book! submitted by prosenwaike on June 13, 2023, 2:00pm Goodbye Stranger is a beautiful book, filled with surprise, love, and beauty. It is super powerful and inspiring, and will leave you in awe of the three main characters, Bridge, Emily, and Tab. This book is one of Rebecca Stead's best!