Not Nothing
Aladdin · Paperback · August 26, 2025
Four starred reviews! “The book we all need at the time we all need it.” —Katherine Applegate, Newbery Award–winning author of The One and Only Ivan In this “tale of intergenerational friendship forged through a shared understanding of loss…told with spellbinding grace” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) from #1 New York Times bestselling author Gayle Forman, a boy assigned to spend his summer volunteering at a senior living facility learns unexpected lessons.
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- Who it’s for
- A tender, quietly compelling read about connection, loss, and the possibility of change.
- Genres
- Loss & Grief, Jewish Religious Stories, Orphans & Foster Kids
- Published
- Aladdin, August 26, 2025
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Four starred reviews! “The book we all need at the time we all need it.” —Katherine Applegate, Newbery Award–winning author of The One and Only Ivan In this “tale of intergenerational friendship forged through a shared understanding of loss…told with spellbinding grace” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) from #1 New York Times bestselling author Gayle Forman, a boy assigned to spend his summer volunteering at a senior living facility learns unexpected lessons.
Continue reading
Alex is twelve, and he did something very, very bad. A judge sentences him to spend his summer volunteering at a retirement home where he’s bossed around by an annoying and self-important do-gooder named Maya-Jade. He hasn’t seen his mom in a year, his aunt and uncle don’t want him, and Shady Glen’s geriatric residents seem like zombies to him. Josey is 107 and ready for his life to be over. He has evaded death many times, having survived ghettos, dragnets, and a concentration camp—all thanks to the heroism of a woman named Olka and his own ability to sew. But now he spends his days in room 206 at Shady Glen, refusing to speak and waiting (and waiting and waiting) to die. Until Alex knocks on Josey’s door…and Josey begins to tell Alex his story. As Alex comes back again and again to hear more, an unlikely bond grows between them. Soon a new possibility opens up for Alex: Can he rise to the occasion of his life, even if it means confronting the worst thing that he’s ever done?
Across Generations
A tender, quietly compelling read about connection, loss, and the possibility of change.
Come here for
- An unlikely bond shaped by shared understanding of loss
- Two very different lives meeting across generations
Expect
- A boy and a 107-year-old finding common ground
- A story that approaches hard histories with grace
Where it sits
| Jewish Religious Stories | 58% |
|---|---|
| Loss & Grief | 46% |
| Orphans & Foster Kids | 29% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Alternative Family Stories
- Jewish Religious Stories
- Big Feelings
- Authors
- Gayle Forman
- Publisher
- Aladdin
- Published
- August 26, 2025
- Format
- Paperback
- Reading lane
- Alternative Family Stories