
One For Sorrow
A Novel
Christopher Barzak(Author)
Bantam Books (Publisher)
Published on 28. August 2007
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-0-553-38436-9 (ISBN)
Description
NOW THE MAJOR MOTION PICTURE JAMIE MARKS IS DEAD
Part thriller, part ghost tale, part love story, One for Sorrow is a novel as timeless as The Catcher in the Rye and as hauntingly lyrical as The Lovely Bones. Christopher Barzak's stunning debut tells of a teenage boy's coming-of-age that begins with a shocking murder and ends with a reason to hope.
Adam McCormick had just turned fifteen when the body was found in the woods. It is the beginning of an autumn that will change his life forever. Jamie Marks was a boy a lot like Adam, a boy no one paid much attention to-a boy almost no one would truly miss. And for the first time, Adam feels he has a purpose. Now, more than ever, Jamie needs a friend.
But the longer Adam holds on to Jamie's ghost, the longer he keeps his friend tethered to a world where he no longer belongs . . . and the weaker Adam's own ties to the living become. Now, to find his way back, Adam must learn for himself what it truly means to be alive.
Praise for One for Sorrow
"Christopher Barzak's sympathy and humor, his awareness, his easeful vernacular storytelling, are extraordinary, and his mournful, unforgettable teenagers drive us deep into the land of the dead practically before we've even fastened our seatbelts."-Jonathan Lethem, author of Motherless Brooklyn
"An amazing, original debut from an amazing, original writer. One for Sorrow may be the most haunting ghost story I've ever read."-Karen Joy Fowler, author of The Jane Austen Book Club
"An uncommonly good book with brains, heart, and bravery to spare. Readers who don't find themselves in sympathy with Barzak's characters were never adolescents themselves."-Kelly Link, author of Magic for Beginners
"An honest and uncanny ride through the shadows between grief and acceptance. This is how real magic works."-Scott Westerfeld, author of Uglies and Extras
Part thriller, part ghost tale, part love story, One for Sorrow is a novel as timeless as The Catcher in the Rye and as hauntingly lyrical as The Lovely Bones. Christopher Barzak's stunning debut tells of a teenage boy's coming-of-age that begins with a shocking murder and ends with a reason to hope.
Adam McCormick had just turned fifteen when the body was found in the woods. It is the beginning of an autumn that will change his life forever. Jamie Marks was a boy a lot like Adam, a boy no one paid much attention to-a boy almost no one would truly miss. And for the first time, Adam feels he has a purpose. Now, more than ever, Jamie needs a friend.
But the longer Adam holds on to Jamie's ghost, the longer he keeps his friend tethered to a world where he no longer belongs . . . and the weaker Adam's own ties to the living become. Now, to find his way back, Adam must learn for himself what it truly means to be alive.
Praise for One for Sorrow
"Christopher Barzak's sympathy and humor, his awareness, his easeful vernacular storytelling, are extraordinary, and his mournful, unforgettable teenagers drive us deep into the land of the dead practically before we've even fastened our seatbelts."-Jonathan Lethem, author of Motherless Brooklyn
"An amazing, original debut from an amazing, original writer. One for Sorrow may be the most haunting ghost story I've ever read."-Karen Joy Fowler, author of The Jane Austen Book Club
"An uncommonly good book with brains, heart, and bravery to spare. Readers who don't find themselves in sympathy with Barzak's characters were never adolescents themselves."-Kelly Link, author of Magic for Beginners
"An honest and uncanny ride through the shadows between grief and acceptance. This is how real magic works."-Scott Westerfeld, author of Uglies and Extras
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 210 mm
Width: 132 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
371 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-553-38436-9 (9780553384369)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Person
Christopher Barzak is the author of the Crawford Fantasy Award-winning novel One for Sorrow, which was made into the Sundance feature film Jamie Marks is Dead. His second novel, The Love We Share Without Knowing, was a finalist for the Nebula and James Tiptree Jr. awards. His third novel, Wonders of the Invisible World, received the Stonewall Honor from the American Library Association and most recently was selected for inclusion on the Human Rights Campaign's list of books for libraries in LGBTQ-welcoming schools. He is also the author of three short story collections: Birds and Birthdays (surrealist fantasy stories), Before and Afterlives, (supernatural fantasies, which won the Shirley Jackson Awards), and the new Monstrous Alterations. His most recent novel, The Gone Away Place, received the inaugural Whippoorwill Award and selected for the Choose to Read Ohio program by the State Library of Ohio, the Ohioana Library Association, and the Ohio Center for the Book.