DEAR ZOE by PHILIP BEARD

Plume Books, 2005

A BOOK REVIEW
by NANNETTE CROCE

Dear Zoe by Philip Beard is the story of a family grieving a loved one killed on September 11, 2001––not in the Twin Towers or the Pentagon or on Flight 93 that went down in central Pennsylvania not far from their Pittsburgh home. This is a four-year-old child, hit by a car on that memorable day.

If you are like me, your first reaction may be to roll your eyes. Not another book playing into the 9/11 theme though connected by only the slimmest thread. In this case, though, 9/11 is not so much a thread as the twine that binds the story together without over-shadowing the major theme.

Dear Zoe is really the story of Tess, Zoe's fourteen-year-old half-sister who feels responsible for her death. Yet, while Philip Beard does an amazing job of capturing Tess's voice, it is not just another story of teen angst either. Told in the form of a letter from Tess to her dead sister, the reader feels Tess's catharsis––and that of her family–– as she journeys from black despair back to hope, evolves from child to equal with the adults in her life, and experiments with her first real boyfriend.

The epistolary form, though criticized as outdated by most of the agents and publishers Philip Beard submitted to, creates an intimacy with the reader, drawing you in, not as an eavesdropper but as a confidante. Dear Zoe is the worthy recipient of numerous awards including a Book Sense Pick, a Borders Original Voices Selection, and was named by the American Library Association's Booklist as one of the Ten Best First Novels of 2005. Dear Zoe by Philip Beard is also highly recommended by this reviewer.


Nannette Croce is Senior Editor for The Rose and Thorn Literary Ezine. Her writing has appeared in various online and print publications including The Philadelphia Inquirer, and she taught a workshop on writing for ezines at the 2006 University of Penn Writer's Conference.

An interview with Philip Beard will appear in the Rose and Thorn's spring issue.


This review may not be reproduced electronically or in
print without the express permission of the author.


ROSES AND THORNS welcomes comments, however REVIEWS MAY BE POSTED BY STAFF MEMBERS ONLY

Leave comments below or join in the discussion.