All We Know of Heaven by Jacquelyn Mitchard.

All we know of heaven by Jacquelyn Mitchard.
HarperCollins, 2008, 311p, $16.99, 978-0-06-134578-4.

We all heard the story of the two best friends who were in a car accident: one was in a coma, the other girl died soon after the accident. The girls looked very much alike and due to that, as well as to the injuries, their identities were reversed. The family who buried who they thought was their daughter grieved. They later found out that their daughter was actually the one who survived as was in the coma. The other family had to accept that the girl who was in the coma, who was brain damaged and disfigured, with whom the mother stayed in the hospital around the clock to comfort and watch, was actually their daughter’s best frThis is only in the first part of the book. The rest tells what happens to all the people involved, the boyfriend, the fellow cheerleaders, the parents, brothers and sisters. The author writes a novel about how they grieved, raged, romanced, reacted to tabloids, and continued with life. It is especially the story of Maureen, the one who survived. The author has done her research on how people who are brain damaged can sometimes recover and how their lives can be changed forever. This fictionalized version of this true incident explores what happens to all the people involved. Mitchard in her acknowledgments in the back of the book, points out that only the premise really occurred; the rest is a work of fiction. The story is sometimes sad but also very inspiring. The cover will pull readers right to it; probably girls more than boys. It is a real page turner. I couldn’t put it down.