Like Nothing Amazing Ever Happened

Emily Blejwas

Jan 2022 · Penguin Random House Audio · Kuchazwe ngu-Mike Chamberlain

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A poignant story of a boy picking up the pieces of his life after the unexpected death of his father, and the loyalty, concern, and friendship he finds in his small-town community.

Justin doesn't know anything these days. Like how to walk down the halls without getting stared at. Or what to say to Jenni. Or how Phuc is already a physics genius in seventh grade. Or why Benny H. wanders around Wicapi talking to old ghosts. He doesn't know why his mom suddenly loves church or if his older brother, Murphy, will ever play baseball again. Or if the North Stars have a shot at the playoffs. Justin doesn't know how people can act like everything's fine when it's so obviously not. And most of all, he doesn't know what really happened the night his dad died on the train tracks. And that sucks.

But life goes on. And as it does, Justin discovers that some things are just unknowable. He learns that time and space and memory are grander and weirder than he ever thought, and that small moments can hold big things, if you're paying attention. Just like his math teacher said, even when you think you have all the information, there will be more. There is always more.

Set during the Gulf War era, Like Nothing Amazing Ever Happened is a story about learning to go on after loss, told with a warmth that could thaw the coldest Minnesota lake.

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Emily Blejwas grew up in Excelsior, Minnesota, where she learned to ice fish and love the North Stars. She now lives in Mobile, Alabama, with her husband and four children, and directs the Alabama Folklife Association. Her first novel, Once You Know This, was a Junior Library Guild selection that School Library Journal called “a poignant and emotionally driven debut."

Visit Emily online and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at EmilyBlejwas.