If not here, then Elsewhere
by Maxine
Liz Hall is killed in a car accident and when she awakes, finds herself in a place not unlike her earthly home. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin is the story of a place where people go after death to carry on their existence. The main difference from Earth is that people age backwards, finally returning to earth as infants. Liz is not happy in Elsewhere. She wants to attend her prom, learn to drive and go to college. She spends much of her time peering through a telescope at her family and friends on Earth. But Liz eventually finds that Elsewhere is where she wants to be for the remaining fifteen years of her life. Life, she learns, no matter where, even in death, is best experienced in the present. Elsewhereturns many questions about existence on their heads and gets one thinking about what's really important.
Two other books for teens with a different take on the afterlife are The Sledding Hill by Chris Crutcher and Where I Want To Be by Adele Griffin.
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