Pieces / Chris Lynch.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A teen revives the legacy of his lost brother in this compelling novel from the author of Inexcusable , a National Book Award finalist.

When Eric's brother Duane dies, his world breaks in two. Duane was his best friend--possibly his only friend. And Eric isn't sure how to live in a world without Duane in it. Desperate to find a piece of his brother to hold on to, Eric decides to meet some of the people who received Duane's organs.

He expects to meet perfect strangers. Instead he encounters people who become more than friends and almost like family--people who begin to help Eric put the pieces of his life back together for good.

From internationally acclaimed author Chris Lynch comes a gripping and enduring exploration of loss and recovery--and a long-awaited sequel to the celebrated Iceman .

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

PHILOSOPHY My brother is a philosopher. I know this because he's told me, countless times. More than just a philosopher, even. "Philoso-raptor," he calls himself. "Swift of mind, rapaciously inquisitive." On his twentieth birthday this year he alerted me to the fact that "at approximately two dumps a day, more than seven hundred a year, times twenty years, that puts me over the fourteen-thousand mark for squatting, most of it on the toilet. That, my man, is a lot of contemplation." That's my brother. He's always telling me to be philosophical, to take things philosophically. I've never entirely wrapped my mind around what that means, but it seems right now is as good a time as there ever will be to figure that out. There's a moss-green river that cuts in half just in time to bypass the hospital on both sides. Sometimes it doesn't appear green, but even at those times it smells green. Doesn't matter, though. People are always on the banks, walking up and down, sitting in the park that belongs half to the hospital, half to the river. Because of the sound. It's millions of splashy voices all going at once, and this river is never, ever silent. I'm standing with my back to the voices and my front to the gleam of the new hospital wing rising up, eight stories of yellow brick and glass against the deep purple clouded sky. I think I've picked out the window on the second floor, in the room where my brother is not going to die. All the voices behind me say that Duane's not going to die. Is it being philosophical to believe the voices? I suppose it could be. Is it being philosophical to be picking up golf-ball-size rocks and whipping them one after another at that window like a spoiled and angry and petulant kid? Of course it isn't. I'm sorry, Duane. I'm sorry, man. You're not even gone and already I'm letting you down. Excerpted from Pieces by Chris Lynch All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

"I am seventeen years old. Or I was, before my big shitslice of a brother went diving into the quarry and broke his neck and his skull and my grip on the world... Now I'm about seven," says Eric, who still feels unmoored and angry one year after his brother's death. Unable to connect to his parents and weighing whether to enter the Navy, Eric seeks out the recipients of Duane's organ donations in hopes of finding solace. Obnoxious Barry has (and intends to abuse) Duane's liver; a gentle teenager, Phil, is overcome with gratitude for Duane's inner-ear bones; and an attractive young mother, Melinda, has his kidney. Readers get to know Duane through the conversations Eric keeps up with him in his mind, and Duane's snarky philosophical phrases ("It's a long fall, off a high horse. Remember that, Brother") appear between chapters. When Duane's pushy ex, Martha, reenters Eric's life, she ignites familiar and confusing emotions. Using succinct prose, Lynch creates a smart, raw story about redefining oneself after loss. Ages 12-up. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

School Library Journal Review

Gr 9 Up-It has been three years since the events recorded in Iceman (HarperCollins, 1994), Lynch's novel about 14-year-old Eric, a tough and angry hockey player who struggles to understand his feelings and his place in his family. In those years, Eric has given up the sport and, more significantly, his older brother has died after a diving accident. At the start of Pieces, Eric is attempting to process his feelings, especially now that bits and pieces of Duane have been transplanted and live on in the bodies of strangers. Eric initiates a meeting with three of the recipients: a sweet teen named Phil, who benefits from Duane's inner-ear bones; the "uberhot" Malinda, a young mom who received Duane's kidney; and the antagonistic and heavy-drinking Barry, who lives thanks to Duane's liver. Eric is both comforted and shocked by the trio, but, along with Duane's former girlfriend, Martha, the five quickly become embroiled in one another's lives, and Eric and Martha find the freedom to grieve and move forward. Lynch is known for his gritty novels with flawed protagonists. He does not disappoint here, once again giving readers characters with emotional and psychological complexity. A long time coming, this sequel is a sophisticated, extended look at a teen's maturation and growth through a series of dynamic life changes.-Jennifer Miskec, Longwood University, Farmville, VA (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

When Lynch published Iceman in 1994, it was his second novel. Almost two decades and dozens of books later, Lynch returns to Eric and Duane, siblings and best friends though things have changed. Pieces opens in a hospital as Eric struggles to accept Duane's death and to consent to organ donation. A year later Eric must decide if he wants to meet the recipients. He attends a high tea where he meets the beneficiaries: sweet, friendless Phil; obnoxious masher Barry; and fragile, beautiful single mother Melinda among them. Eric feels ready to move on, until Martha, Duane's ex-girlfriend and Eric's eternal crush, appears, determined to meet the recipients herself, and things become messily human. Lynch paints a cast of indelible characters, even secondary players, with a deft, sensitive hand. And despite the specificity of Eric's circumstances, his complicated, shifting emotions are immediately resonant. Though the complex family dynamic (and strange affinity for death) explored in Iceman adds nuance to the proceedings here, this novel stands on its own, rewarding new readers with a tender exploration of just what it means to be whole.--Barthelmess, Thom Copyright 2010 Booklist

Horn Book Review

Lynch first explored the closeness of brothers Duane and Eric in Iceman. But now Duane is dead, and Eric struggles to cope. Since Duane was an organ donor, parts of him are technically alive in others, and Eric sets out to find them--and his beloved brother's essence. This intriguing premise gets sidetracked with a host of characters and Eric's own ill-defined quest. (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

A teenage boy seeks connections with the people who received his beloved brother's donated organs in this darkly humorous novel by the author of Inexcusable (2005). A year after his 20-year-old brother Duane died in a diving accident, 18-year-old Eric still can't seem to move forward. In an attempt to keep the "nothingness that is filling the Duane space" from taking hold, he reaches out to three of the donors who received his brother's "pieces." After meeting shy, redheaded Phil, brassy Barry and sweet single mom Melinda, Eric finds himself constantly asking the questions, "Who are these people? Who are they, to me? Who am I, to them?" Duane's outspoken and softhearted ex-girlfriend Martha dispenses advice and comic relief as Eric puzzles out the answers and tries not to fall for beautiful Melinda, who is eight years his senior. As these unusual relationships take root, Eric realizes that what the donors are to him is a freshly minted family that helps ease the pain of the one that he lost. Each character springs fully formed off the page, and Lynch's irreverent, inventive dialogue crackles, turning what could have easily been a maudlin soap opera into a sharply observed story of real human connection. Readers will be pleasantly reminded of the snarky stylings of John Green and Ned Vizzini. Exceptional. (Fiction. 12 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.