Sometimes people are sad for no reason at all, but in this story, Michael is sad thinking about the death of his son who died suddenly in his youth. Michael copes with his sadness by telling himself that everyone is sad at one time or another and tries to do something everyday that will make him happy. He goes on to explain how sometimes people try to cover up their sadness to make it more acceptable for others. In other moments, he explains how he’s just angry at his son for “dy[ing] like that”.
This book is a very personal story that can be emotionally felt by older children and adults alike; especially, for anyone that has a loved one pass away very suddenly and doesn’t understand what happened or even why it happened. I do not recommend this title to younger children, because the topic is quite heavy and can be very burdensome to a younger child. In addition, grief and suffering are presented in a very abstract way and may be more confusing to younger children than helpful As with any book, I recommend reading it to understand whether or not the book is appropriate to give to someone coping with their loss.