Be Grateful, ELSEWHERE by Gabrielle Zevin and Alison McGhee

First of all, you healthy people who got out of bed without assistance this morning? Be grateful. I'm still laid out, and it's driving me crazy. I know there are no shortcuts here, so I'm trying to be good. BUT...it's awful just lying here. I should be able to do some writing, though, now that kids and hubby are back at school and work.

I read a very interesting book on Friday. It's a fascinating YA novel called ELSEWHERE by Gabrielle Zevin and Alison McGhee. I'm fascinated by the fact that it has two authors. How did that work? Did they pass it back and forth? Or did one write and the other embellish, add dialogue, etc? Very rare to see a non-celebrity book with two authors. I'm intrigued. Beyond the two author thing, the book is totally interesting. It's about a fifteen-year-old girl who dies when she's hit by a car and she goes to (kind of heaven-like) place called ELSEWHERE where apparently everyone goes when they die (on a cruise ship, no less). In ELSEWHERE she is met at the dock by her grandmother (whom she'd never met) who had died young of breast cancer. Interestingly, in ELSEWHERE you age backward every year until you become a baby again. Then, they send you back to earth to start again. It's a fascinating, thought-provoking read. I'd recommend it to anyone. Unlike many YAs, I would recommend it to middle schoolers, as well. I'm anxious for my kiddos to read it, so we can discuss.

When you're lying in bed like this, you overhear all kinds of interesting things in the house. For example:

1. "Just don't tell Mom"
2. "What's your teacher's name again?"
3. "I'll find it for her. Sometimes I just look around in her drawers, so I know where everything is." (6 yo on finding me some chapstick)
4. "Let me know if there's a problem with my work" (6 YO who is cleaning up the family room)
5. "I don't have any jeans, either, and it's not like we'll have clean clothes anytime soon unless I do it."

I've also gotten lots of interesting back advice.
1. "Just take it easy for a few months" (are you kidding me? a few months?)
2. "Drug up and rest" (from someone in the medical profession)
3. "Don't move or you'll reinjure yourself and it'll be ten times worse" (ten times, eh?)
4. "Use a heating pad. It'll make all the difference."
5. "Just make sure you don't apply heat. Ice it."
6. "Alternate heat and ice."
7. "Two shots of bourbon every 4-6 hours"
8. "Watch Mary Tyler Moore on Hulu."
9. "When the bottle of ibuprofen is gone, your back will be better." (uh oh, I got the big one at SAm's)

If you have any advice to add, I sure could use it. I'm currently following all 9 of the above, well, almost. If you can add to the mix, it would really help me. Also, if anyone out there has Julie and Julia, I'd love to see it again. Seems like I heard lots of people got it for Christmas (except me, of course).

Have a wonderful, back-supported day!