It is at the prompting of his psychologist that Henry uses a journal to slowly reveal the reason that he has changed schools, that his dad and he never mention IT and that his mom is in a mental ward in another province. Nielsen creates an wonderful array of characters as she tells a story of bullying gone too far.

Susan Neilsen is a genius. Her knack of creating characters who remain in your heart long after you read her books is amazing. Henry Larsen is a complex guy. Why is he seeing a therapist? Why did he and his dad have to move? Superb novel that explores the long-reaching arms of bullying.

Henry et sa famille ont vécu un drame terrible qui a complètement bouleversé leur vie. Forcés de déménager loin pour fuir les menaces et les insultes, Henry quitte avec son père tandis que sa mère doit demeurer dans leur ville pour des raisons de santé. Le duo père-fils tente tant bien que mal de se créer une nouvelle vie loin de l’histoire qui les hante depuis le drame. Heureusement, Henry s’est fait de nouveaux amis sur qui il peut compter, mais réussira-t-il à conserver son secret ?

Ah, Susin Nielsen! Quelle plume rassurante! Vous assisterez encore une fois à une histoire touchante et ferez la rencontre de personnages totalement attachants, comme M. Atapattu, le voisin d’Henry. Comme à l’habitude, l’autrice nous présente une panoplie de personnages tous aussi diversifiés les uns que les autres. D’ailleurs, j’adore que ses romans soient toujours si inclusifs. En plus, si vous avez fait la lecture de certains de ses autres romans, vous pourrez toujours repérer des passages où l’on fait allusion à d’anciens personnages, d’autres livres.


Par contre, si comme moi, vous avez lu plusieurs livres de Susin Nielsen, bien qu’elle ait une plume incroyable et que j’adore chacune de ses histoires, on peut constater une certaine redondance, comme les personnages qui sont toujours environ du même âge et qui sont plutôt immatures, leurs intérêts spécifiques, la famille très présente et un secret souvent bien gardé. Malgré tout, ses livres me font toujours du bien parce que je sais que la fin est toujours douce et heureuse. Je me dois aussi de souligner l’excellente traduction pour chacun de ses romans, qui sont adaptés au français québécois et non de France.

At times a difficult book to read, this is the story of a young teen boy struggling with the after-effects of his older brother's key role in a murder/suicide event after severe bullying at the high school.

Given the nature of the bullying, this is not a book I would recommend to Junior-level students. It is, however, an excellent novel for Intermediates (grades 7+). Nielsen treats the subject matter with frankness, respect and a level of humour that feels intensely genuine. Various points of view are explored in this story which provides a well-rounded context for all the events. Not all ends are neatly tied-up in the end, which feels like real life. That said, I'd love for a companion novel written from the character Jodie's perspective to exist.

Henry's brother shot his bully dead in school and now Henry has moved to a new city with his father (his mom's in a psychiatric hospital) to start fresh. He's in therapy and asked to write in his diary every day --- that's what we read. Henry has started eating and isolating himself as a coping mechanism --- Farley, another kid from his new school, tries to befriend Henry, much to his dismay.

Even though he dutifully uses the diary, Henry doesn't want to talk or write about Jesse, his brother, even though so many things trigger his memories. He has to manage grief, anger, love, shame and guilt while being a teenager.

The novel is very touching even though it is a bit over the top in some regards (robot speak, wtf). The kids were a bit too flawed / dorky / weird for my liking, but that might just be me.

4,5 Stars and last book of 2019. Happy New Year!

A quick read that still had time to pull you in!

I read this book in a day–I couldn't really put it down! A quick read, but it will be with me for a while. I really love Henry; one of the greatest things about him is that he's so HUMAN. This book was pretty predictable, but the way it's written, in Henry's POV...you just have to read it! So glad I picked this up, again, it's a short read, so why not give it a try?

Intense and timely.

When a completely tragic story can be told in an interesting, hopeful and at times humorous way, you know you are in the hands of a talented author. Henry is coping with the violent death of his brother, the dismantling of his family and his own break from reality. Moving to a new city to make a fresh start seems the best option to put distance from the ugly truth. Henry succeeds at making new friends, learns to trust his new therapist and begins writing the Reluctant Journal of Henry K Larsen as part of his therapy. His reflections on life are real and honest.

Highly, highly recommended for grades 7 and up. Some violence due to bullying might be tough for a sensitive reader.