Review: P.S. I Miss You by Jen Petro-Roy
Source: ARC courtesy of Raincoast Books. Thank you!
Publication: March 6, 3018 by Feiwel & Friends
Book Description:

Evie is heartbroken when her strict Catholic parents send her pregnant sister, Cilla, away to stay with a distant great-aunt. All Evie wants is for her older sister to come back. Forbidden from speaking to Cilla, Evie secretly sends her letters.

Evie writes about her family, torn apart and hurting. She writes about her life, empty without Cilla. And she writes about the new girl in school, June, who becomes her friend, and then maybe more than a friend.

Evie could really use some advice from Cilla. But Cilla isn’t writing back, and it’s time for Evie to take matters into her own hands.

P.S. I Miss You by Jen Petro-Roy is a heartfelt middle grade novel dealing with faith, identity, and finding your way in difficult times.

Jen Petro-Roy‘s middle grade title P.S. I Miss You is a stunner of a debut. It is a read that immediately takes you in to the world of an unforgettable, uniquely voiced young narrator and beautifully- achingly- proceeds to put you through a storm of emotions.

P.S. I Miss You is narrated by twelve-year old Evie and told entirely through letters that Evie is writing to her older sister Cilla. Evie begins writing letters shortly after her sixteen-year old pregnant sister leaves the family to stay out the rest of her pregnancy with an isolated great-aunt. Readers soon learn more from Evie about her life and upbringing, which seems to have been most influenced by her parents’ substantial involvement in their Catholic church and in their mostly Catholic community. Readers also learn that Evie’s parents’ reactions to their eldest daughter’s unplanned pregnancy not only culminated in Cilla’s decision to leave home, but also altered plans for what would happen to the baby, and what Cilla’s plans would be after giving birth.

While this mountainous emotional turmoil is happening, Evie- who is increasingly frustrated with her closed-off, unyielding parents and not hearing from Cilla- begins a new school year. Evie gets to know June, a girl new to their town and to her grade seven class, and is soon exposed to some entirely surprising (at least for their community) ways of thinking about and approaching religion. Evie continues to dig and scrutinize her religion, her parents’ own hypocrisies, prejudices, perceptions about guilt, sin, and heteronormative biases when things come to a head. As Evie continues to write to Cilla, pleading for some guidance about her identity and growing, intense feelings for June, Evie decides that she can’t bear it anymore- she needs to see her older sister. For fear of spoiling too much, I won’t say more- just know that Petro-Roy navigates searing turns, sorrow and grief, and the resulting aftermath in the most skillful and beautiful of fashions.

Overall, an excellently written, emotional and riveting middle grade title and one I highly recommend. Children’s author Erin Dionne, in a blurb for P.S. I Miss You , writes that Petro-Roy “has created a character [in Evie] with the potential to be as iconic as Judy Blume’s Margaret” [from Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret], and what an apt sentiment. Evie is that standout, lionhearted kind of protagonist, whose heartfelt story and deeply personal narration will stay with you for a long time after finishing the novel. Readers who enjoy epistolary novels, or the work of authors such as Susin Nielsen, Kat Yeh, Firoozeh Dumas, Lisa Graff, Barbara Dee or Rebecca Stead, might especially appreciate P.S. I Miss You.

I received a copy of this title courtesy of Raincoast Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and comments are my own.