Kid Lit Review of “Goodbye Stranger” by Rebecca Stead

This story of seventh grade best friends alternates among several narrators, one of whom is unnamed, all struggling with situations at home; the pressures of peers; dissonance from growing up at different rates; and the need to figure out the boundaries of trust and loyalty and love.

Bridget (“Bridge”) Barsamian is the main narrator; her best friends are Tab (Tabitha), Em (Emily), and later Sherm Russo. Bridge was in a traumatic accident when she was eight, about which she still has nightmares. At the time, the doctor told her it was a miracle she was still alive, and a nurse said to her:

“Thirteen broken bones and a punctured lung. You must have been put on this earth for a reason, little girl, to have survived.”

Bridge has pondered what this purpose might be ever since. She hasn’t really talked about it to her family though, not even to Jamie, her older brother, who is in many ways the most entertaining and interesting character of the book even though he is a “supporting actor.”

As the school year begins, Bridge brings into their threesome a fourth friend, Sherm Russo. Sherm is dealing with the unexpected divorce, after fifty years, of his grandparents, and is having difficulty forgiving his grandfather.

Tab’s older sister Celeste also plays a role in the story, acting as sort of a mentor to the girls, helping them navigate the shoals of middle school.

Emily started seventh grade with a “body.” She was now the object of attention of boys, and it threatens to come between her and the others. One boy in particular, Patrick, whom Emily met in the “Banana Splits Club” for kids with divorced parents, has been encouraging Emily to exchange phone photos of increasingly revealing body parts. The other girls are upset, but can’t seem to convince Emily this is not a harmless activity.

Meanwhile, Tab and Em keep asking Bridge if she “loves” Sherm, but Bridge isn’t sure what love is. She sees indications of it all around her though. Her mom told her that love was a kind of music, and that one day, you could just suddenly hear it. Bridge also thinks about love when she watches Tab’s parents, who celebrate Karva Chauth, during which Hindu women fast all day until they see the moon to show their devotion to their husbands. Tab rejects such ideas as antifeminist, having been influenced by her English teacher Mrs. Berman, who has her students call her Mrs. Berperson. But when Tab’s parents take Bridge and Tab along to find the moon, and Bridge observes how they treat one another, she thinks that must be love, too.

Finally, after some traumatic developments shake up the school, Bridge has an epiphany; she knows why she was put on earth, simultaneously realizing what love is.

Evaluation: Newbery Medal winner Stead combines sensitivity with compassion for her characters to weave into the story a number of issues that face today’s kids in school. She also shows how decisions have consequences, and how important it is to try to face those consequences and deal with them in the most “adult” way possible. While the issues raised are serious, they are kept on a “middle grade” level without diminishing the importance of what is happening with the kids. I think this would be a very valuable story for middle graders and could generate some excellent discussions.

Rating: 3.5/5

Published by Random House, 2015