Deadville

Deadville by Ron Koertge is about learning to live again after a loss.

Ryan is a stoner. He has been one since his little sister went into the hospital to die two years ago. It was his way of coping - or not having to cope.

When a classmate falls off of her horse and ends up in a coma his friend drags him to the hospital to see her. After forcing himself through the door the first time he is compelled to return again and again.

As he visits the hospital he begins to see ways to come out of the cloud he has been living under and begin to take charge of his life.

Ron Koertge captures the feelings of grief and the desire to keep going in a way that will appeal to readers who enjoyed Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson though it is not quite as intense.

Koertge, Ron. (2008). Deadville. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.