THE THING ABOUT JELLYFISH, by Ali Benjamin

The story: Franny died in an accident, and former best friend Suzy can't get past it. She feels guilty even though she wasn't there, and to help herself cope, she's given up on talking unless she absolutely has to. Nothing in her world makes sense...nothing except jellyfish. When she realizes that a jellyfish sting could be the reason for Franny's death, she obsesses about the creatures, finally staging an attempt to meet one of the world's foremost authorities on them. Can her family and friends keep her from going over the edge from sad to cray-cray?

June Cleaver's ratings: Language G; Violence G; Sexual content G; Nudity G; Substance abuse PG; Magic & the occult G; GLBT content PG; adult themes PG (death, grief, guilt, obsessive behavior and other mental illnesses) PG-13; overall rating PG.

Liz's comments: This story is similar in a number of ways to "The Question of Miracles", which I actually liked better. Suzy's obsession and her refusal to speak as a way of dealing with her grief didn't make sense to me (but that's possibly because I haven't had a comparable, earth-shaking trauma like hers). More real is her guilt at the state of the friendship when Franny died, and her obsessions become a way of dealing with the pain. Give this one to girls who have experienced a loss and are having trouble coping. Full disclosure: both Booklist and SLJ reviewers liked it better than I did!