Adam McCormick had just turned fifteen when the body was found in the woods. It is the beginning of an autumn that will change his life forever. Jamie Marks was a boy a lot like Adam, a boy no one paid much attention to--a boy almost no one would truly miss. And for the first time, Adam feels he has a purpose. Now, more than ever, Jamie needs a friend.
But the longer Adam holds on to Jamie's ghost, the longer he keeps his friend tethered to a world where he no longer belongs . . . and the weaker Adam's own ties to the living become. Now, to find his way back, Adam must learn for himself what it truly means to be alive.
Praise for One for Sorrow
"Christopher Barzak's sympathy and humor, his awareness, his easeful vernacular storytelling, are extraordinary, and his mournful, unforgettable teenagers drive us deep into the land of the dead practically before we've even fastened our seatbelts."--Jonathan Lethem, author of Motherless Brooklyn
"An amazing, original debut from an amazing, original writer. One for Sorrow may be the most haunting ghost story I've ever read."--Karen Joy Fowler, author of The Jane Austen Book Club
"An uncommonly good book with brains, heart, and bravery to spare. Readers who don't find themselves in sympathy with Barzak's characters were never adolescents themselves."--Kelly Link, author of Magic for Beginners
"An honest and uncanny ride through the shadows between grief and acceptance. This is how real magic works."--Scott Westerfeld, author of Uglies and Extras
Hugo, Sturgeon, Astounding Award-winning author: ANCESTRAL NIGHT, RANGE OF GHOSTS, HAMMERED, KAREN MEMORY etc. probably not 2 ornimegalonyxes in a trenchcoat.
Actually, while we're on haunting queer ghost stories, let me throw in another one: Christopher Barzak's ethereal, clarion ONE FOR SORROW, about a boy and a ghost and small town that doesn't get it at all: https://t.co/brdQTTC5WF
Official account of Colorado's Jeffco Library. Always be learning. Always be creating. Always be discovering something new. #JCPLove 📚❤️
@killershamuu We have a few! One For Sorrow by Christopher Barzak, Plain bad heroines : a novel by Emily M. Danforth., The Bunker Diaries by Kevin Brooks (a book so frightening, some think it shouldn't be considered YA) or Fledgling by Octavia Butler.
I am a readers' advisory librarian. Clarion West Writers Workshop board member. 2022 World Fantasy Award judge. Personal account. she/her 🏳️🌈
@emelkrishnan THE GRIP OF IT by Jac Jemc BLACK WATER SISTER by Zen Cho ARCHIVAL QUALITY by Ivy Noelle Weir (graphic novel) THE CLOCKMAKER’S DAUGHTER by Kate Morton MAPPING THE INTERIOR by Stephen Graham Jones ONE FOR SORROW by Christopher Barzak THE MERCY OF THIN AIR by Ronlyn Domingue
"An amazing, original debut from an amazing, original writer. One for Sorrow may be the most haunting ghost story I've ever read."--Karen Joy Fowler, author of The Jane Austen Book Club
"An uncommonly good book with brains, heart, and bravery to spare. Readers who don't find themselves in sympathy with Barzak's characters were never adolescents themselves."--Kelly Link, author of Magic for Beginners
"An honest and uncanny ride through the shadows between grief and acceptance. This is how real magic works."--Scott Westerfeld, author of Uglies and Extras