Goodbye Stranger

I purchased multiple copies of this book for our multigenerational, multi family COVID-19 book club. Although it facilitated some excellent parenting moments for important teen topic discussions (peer pressure, friendship issues, etc.), it also lost two of our Zoom families and my 13 year old son who simply couldn't engage with the book. It was a tough start, could be confusing even to mature, educated readers and its more advanced middle school subject matter (boy crushes, sexting, etc.) wasn't relatable to the twelve and under crowd in general and/or to the boys. There were some excellent aspects of this book but I wouldn't necessarily go out of my way to recommend it to others. The first two books our book club read - on the other hand - were loved by all of us (grandma, mom and kids 10-14 years old). They were: "The War That Saved My Life" by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley and "Summerlost" by Ally Condie. I hope reading the sequel to "The War That Saved My Life" ("The War I Finally Won") will be enough to kick start our book club after fizzling our way through "Goodbye Stranger".

I discovered Rebecca Stead quite by accident when I picked up a used copy of When You Reach Me. I brought it to school and set it on my bookshelf, and then was puzzled when none of the students picked it up to read. Eventually, during standardized testing, I decided to give it a try. Wow, I was blown away! Since then, I've read it aloud to several classes, and they all agree it's a fantastic book.I was anxious to read Goodbye Stranger because I was hoping it would be as good. It is. Ms Stead has a way with her characters, they're quirky and unexpected, and I like that. There is always a mystery, in this case another story twists through the main one, and at the end you smack your head and say, "Duh! I should have seen that!" And these mysteries are just as fresh upon subsequent readings, even though you already know what's going to happen.The main thread of Goodbye Stranger focuses on a group of seventh graders, and inappropriate pictures posted on social media. As a teacher, I've seen this kind of thing happen before, and I'm glad I have this resource now to share with students. Why is it a bad idea to post something without another person's knowledge? The message here is not shouted, it just plays out in such a way that it gets the point across very poignantly.Too many times my students want to read supernatural young adult titles. This year, I'll gently push them toward this book instead. Highly recommended.

I am an eleven year old and I really liked this book. I love how you don't know who the other perspective is, (not Brige, the other one) until the end. When I read that part, I was actualy really surprised. I recommend this book for maybe nine or ten year olds and up. I also recommend this book for adults too, yeah, that's how good it is. I gave it only four stars because it's not my favorite book ever, and I have definitely read much better books, but I still really liked it and really really REALLY recommend it for every single person looking for a good book to read and reading this review and probably laughing at it. Anyway, I couldn't put this book down, I finished it in like, two or three days, maybe? I stayed up until like one in the morning every night until I finished it. Sorry, I am kind of getting off track here.Back to the point, Goodbye Stranger is a great book and I recommend for everyone. All ages over like, nine or ten maybe.Bye!Comment by:A mysterious eleven year old that talks to much and never stays on the point and is funny and doesn't know how a end a SINGLE FRICKIN SENTENCE!!!

**Contains a few spoilers, but nothing major***I read this book with my daughter, along with one of her best friends and the friend's mother in a book group. Overall, this was a great book. It's not exactly the type of book I could see myself re-reading, but everything felt genuine: the characters, the settings, the visual cues. I felt like I was hanging out with this group of people for a few months, watching their lives go by.Since I didn't have a cell phone when I was in middle school, the whole sending-picture scandal was interesting to me, but the overall theme of different kinds of friendship and how they change over time is a universal one.Some stand-alone things that come to mind:I was genuinely surprised that the nameless girl having trouble with her friend Vinny was Celeste, Tab's sister. Maybe its because I was reading quickly to finish the book, but I didn't see it coming.I really, really wish there had been a resolution to finding out Julie Hopper sent the picture of Em.I liked the friendship of Bridge and Sherm, how they really just liked hanging out together and, even if they felt weird sometimes, they still just went with it and trusted each other.I really liked the friendship of Em, Bridge and Tab. Their communication was good, even if that's not necessarily entirely reflective of real life. But it's a great standard to aspire to.I loved all the visuals and unique character details in the story. Bridge and her brother, with their love of the Rudolph Christmas special; Tab and her parents and their fasting ritual; Sherm's relationship with his grandparents; Em and her brother Evan, who reads tarot cards; the Bean Bar and Adrienne (a boxer with blond dreadlocks!); Bridge's cat ears, Em's sportiness, Tab's emerging feminism; Sherm believing the moon landing was faked, Bridge's mom playing cello; and on, and on...This book, in my opinion, definitely stands as a new classic and I think all kids should read it before entering seventh grade. Cheers to Rebecca Stead!

I loved this book, some characters were a bit annoying or rude sometimes, like I thought Tab was feminist at first, but then she was a huge jerk later in the story and acted like girls couldn’t do bad things even though she was supposed to be a protagonist. I was also confused by the second person perspective and feel that a similar perspective could’ve been achieved with a first person perspective.

Enjoying the book so far - but another aspect of buying this one was for the cover and to complete a set. The one sent is completely different and in no way appealing. So, good read. Very disappointing cover edition.

My 12 year old daughter has read and re-read this book, she says it's the best book that she's ever read (and she's read a lot!)

I loved this book! I am very picky about what I read but this really hooked me in and whenever I got home I would come and read it. I rate this book for 11-13 year olds and definitely recommend this book!

I expected a more enjoyable read than this as it had quite a few five-star reviews, However, it seems to me to ramble on in a trendy way about nothing in particular. It was cast aside to join the other books that were not interesting enough to finish. It is possibly more suitable for girls than for boys.

Gustó mucho