- US Edition
The Ethan I Was Before
Partly a mystery, partly a poignant exploration of grief and the daunting journey back to hope, this moving debut is in the vein of BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA and THREE TIMES LUCKY.
Ali Standish’s breathtaking debut is a poignant middle grade novel of friendship and forgiveness, The Ethan I Was Before is a classic in the making.
Ethan had been many things. He was always ready for adventure and always willing to accept a dare, especially from his best friend, Kacey. But that was before. Before the accident that took Kacey from him. Before his family moved from Boston to the small town of Palm Knot, Georgia.
Palm Knot may be tiny, but it’s the home of possibility and second chances. It’s also home to Coralee, a girl with a big personality and even bigger stories. Coralee may be just the friend Ethan needs, except Ethan isn’t the only one with secrets. Coralee’s are catching up with her, and what she’s hiding might be putting both their lives at risk. The Ethan I Was Before is a story of love and loss, wonder and adventure, and ultimately of hope.
Rights details
UK: Orchard (Hachette Children\'s Group), (Summer 2017)
USA/Canada: HarperCollins (Winter 2017)
Turkey: Yabanci Yayinlari
Persian rights: Porteghal
Romania: Corint
Russia: KompasGid
Good news
Middle-Grade Nerdie Award for Best Novels of 2017
THE 2017 NERDIES: Middle Grade Fiction ANNOUNCED BY Colby Sharp
Best New Books for Preteens and Tweens Jan 2017
” . . .breathtaking . . .a classic in the making. The Ethan I Was Before is a story of love and loss, wonder and adventure, and ultimately of hope.”
Junior Library Guild Selection Winter 2017
Publishers Weekly Starred Review
Debut author Standish boldly tackles themes of death, guilt, and forgiveness in this tender coming-of-age story. Twelve-year-old Ethan Truitt blames himself for a tragic accident involving his best friend, Kacey. To help Ethan recover, his parents uproot the family from their Boston home and move to Georgia. In the town of Palm Knot, Ethan tries to adapt to living in his grumpy Grandpa Ike’s dilapidated house, fit in at school, and avoid his older brother, Roddie, who is angry about the family’s relocation. Ethan befriends a imaginative and daring girl named Coralee, and the two are soon having the kinds of adventures Ethan once shared with Kacey and thought he’d never have again. While building suspense by withholding what exactly happened between Ethan and Kacey until well into the story, Standish movingly conveys Ethan’s persistent grief and guilt, which Coralee and others helps him think about in new ways. Readers will be riveted as Ethan, his family, and other well-developed characters face the somber realities of life head on. Ages 8–12
Independent Booksellers’ Debut Picks of the Season
Selected by the American Booksellers Association as an Indie Introduce middle-grade title for Winter/Spring 2017
http://bookweb.org/indies-introduce-winter-spring-2017
The Author
Ali Standish
Ali Standish’s award-winning and bestselling books include the Carnegie-nominated The Ethan I Was Before, August Isle (titled The Secret Summer in the UK), Bad Bella, The Climbers, How to Disappear Completely, The Mending Summer, and Yonder. Her books have received starred reviews, have been named as Indies Introduce and Indies Next titles, and have been nominated for Goodreads Choice Awards. She grew up splitting her time between North Carolina and several imaginary worlds. The only award she ever won in school was for messiest desk, but that didn’t stop her from going on to get degrees from Pomona College, Hollins University, and obtaining a master’s degree in Children’s Literature from the University of Cambridge. Ali also spent several years as a teacher/program administrator in the Washington DC Public School system. She still spends most of her time in her imagination, but you might just spot her walking her two rescue dogs with her Finnish husband and their son around her neighborhood in Raleigh, North Carolina.
You can visit her online at alistandish.com.
Ali is represented by Chelsea Eberly.