Sorry for Your Loss

From Printz Honor winner and Morris Award finalist Jessie Ann Foley comes a comitragic YA novel that will appeal to fans of Jandy Nelson and Jeff Zentner.

As the youngest of eight, painfully average Pup Flanagan is used to flying under the radar. He’s barely passing his classes. He lets his longtime crush walk all over him. And he’s in no hurry to decide on a college path.

The only person who ever made him think he could be more was his older brother Patrick. But that was before Patrick died suddenly, leaving Pup with a family who won’t talk about it and acquaintances who just keep saying, “sorry for your loss.”

When Pup excels at a photography assignment he thought he’d bomb, things start to come into focus. His dream girl shows her true colors. An unexpected friend exposes Pup to a whole new world, right under his nose.

And the photograph that was supposed to show Pup a way out of his grief ultimately reveals someone else who is still stuck in their own. Someone with a secret regret Pup never could have imagined.

Winner of the 2020-2021 North Star YA Award

Named to YALSA's Best Fiction for Young Adults List

• Dealing with Grief: Pup feels alone in his sorrow after his brother Patrick’s sudden death, lost in a family that refuses to talk about what they’ve all lost.
• Family Secrets: As his family pretends everything is fine, Pup begins to see the truth through his camera lens—especially the downward spiral of his other brother, Luke.
• Finding Your Voice Through Art: A failing grade in art class forces Pup to pick up a camera, and through its lens, he finally finds a way to make sense of his world and his place in it.
• A Heartfelt YA Romance: While navigating his unrequited crush on his long-time best friend, an unexpected connection with a fellow photographer shows Pup what real friendship—and maybe more—could look like.