The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin

However, eventually, she made it a work of children’s fiction by putting together a story about a young schoolgirl and her brother that had been on her mind for some time. Having been awed by their beauty, incredibly long history on Earth, and intriguing biological processes, she started reading about them so much so that she started working on a non-fiction book about jellyfish. In fact, the story of how the book came to be published goes like this: Ali Benjamin had taken her kids to the New England aquarium when they chanced upon a jellies exhibit. Well- presented and full of original understanding.

For one, information about jellyfish - tonnes of it. So many elements of the natural world are (re)introduced with a fascination and curiosity that you’d expect only from a child. There is so much wonder scattered all over this heartfelt book. In the months following Franny’s demise, her only goal is to meet a jellyfish researcher who can convince the world of her hypothesis- even if it means traveling alone secretly to the other end of the globe. If people were silent, they could read one another’s signals, the way underwater creatures flash lights at one another, or turn their skin different colors.” If people were silent, it would make what they did say, whenever they chose to say it, more important. “If people were silent, they could hear the noise of their own lives better. She withdraws into a zone she calls ‘no-talking’, a means of shutting out her divorced parents, uppity junior high classmates, and the rest of the world. What it does to their friendship is a study in the psychology of prejudice in itself.įollowing her visit to the aquarium, Suzy embarks on a mission to uncover the real reason behind Franny’s death - her hypothesis is that of an Irukandji jellyfish sting.įranny’s death has also delivered a painful blow to Suzy’s hope of healing the rift cut open between them, which further pushes her into a state of detachment. How would you respond to it? Friends since five, Suzy and Franny have their moments however, growing up is a process that affects different individuals quite differently, and at varied rates, emotionally as much as physically. Sometimes friendships that you expect to naturally last forever fizzle out when you least expect it - and for no fault of your own. Turton, who is a teacher I would love to have had in seventh grade. Every chapter has a nugget in the beginning - a quote attributed to Mrs.

Thus starts The Thing about Jellyfish, Ali Benjamin’s wonderful debut novel that explores grief and life’s meaning in thoughtfully written chapters that flow in and out of Suzy’s past seamlessly.

The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin