The Thing about Jellyfish
Ali Benjamin
Subjects
- Friends & Family - tears and laughter, and happy ever after
- Friends & Family - tears and laughter, and happy ever after
Average rating
It's peculiar how no-words can be better than words. How silence can say more than noise, or a person's absence can occupy even more space than their presence did. Suzy is twelve when her best friend, Franny, drowns one summer at the beach. It takes two days for the news to reach Suzy, and it's not something that she can accept: Franny has always been a strong swimmer, from the day they met in swim class when they were just five. How can someone all of a sudden, just no longer be there? Suzy realizes that they must have got it wrong: Franny didn't just drown - she was stung by a poisonous jellyfish. This makes a lot more sense to Suzy's logical mind than a random drowning - cause: a jellyfish sting; effect: death. Suzy's journey to acceptance is quiet - she resolves to either say something important, or say nothing at all. But it's also bursting with bittersweet humour, heart-breaking honesty, big ideas and small details. The Thing About Jellyfish is an astonishing debut novel from Ali Benjamin, and is perfect for fans of Wonder, Counting By 7s and My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece.
Reviews
I thought this was a brilliant book as it contains facts about jellyfish that I would have never known about. It is such a heartwarming book as it showed me the strong power of friendship and about how meaningful that friendship is. The main character, Suzy Swanson is my favourite as she has such a warming personality and is so caring for her best friend even when her best friend doesn't act in the same way. Suzy is so brave as she has the courage to discover the truth of how her best friend drowned, even when she is going through hardship with her personal life.This is a must read book as it shows everyone who reads this, the true power and courage of caring for a friend.
Anonymous 03.09.2022
I think this is a great book by Ali Benjamin because it has so many different sides and shades; friendship, relationship, perseverance, facts, adventure and planning. It is about a girl called Suzanne who is always the odd one out and her friend. Slowly she begins to realize that her old best friend is not coming back after drowning, but, she was a great swimmer! So Suzanne (Zu for short) decides that if her death was not drowning it must have been jellyfish. Then, she wants to raise awareness. So she does her science report on them causing an unlikely friendship and an interesting nickname. I would recommend this to anyone over the age of nine.
Mademoiselle Fandango Stegosaurus 19.10.2020
This is an awesome read. It has a mix of a story and facts, and flashbacks to the past. It is about a girl (Suzy) who's friend (Franny) drowned. However Franny was a strong swimmer, so Suzy believes she was stung by a jellyfish: it is the only explanation. An incredible tale. Would recommend to anybody.
Anonymous 15.07.2018
Amazing! Very sad and heartbreaking story about how you feel when you've lost someone close to you. It made me realise how much I am grateful for my friends! I recommend this book to 11+ year olds and for people who like real, not-fantasy books.
Anonymous 23.07.2017
I loved it! Really refreshing YA novel.
Anonymous 12.07.2017
Wow! This was such a sad book about friendship. Touched me so deeply that it made me cry :-(. Great book for anyone 0+
Anonymous 04.04.2017
