Never That Far by Carol Lynch Williams HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY!

Libby Lochewood is twelve years old in 1967 when her grampa dies of a heart attack. She is devastated at losing her best friend. Now that Grampa's passed on, it's just her and her father, and he is so overcome by grief that he can barely get out of bed in the morning.

The night of the funeral, though, Grampa's spirit appears in Libby's bedroom and tells her three important things: first, that she isn't alone or forgotten--"The dead ain't never that far from the living," he says; second, that she has "the Sight"--the ability to see family members who have died; and three, that there is something special just for her in the lake. Something that could help her and her father--if she can find it. He kisses Libby on the cheek and vanishes in a soft glow of light and color.

Libby begins her search along with her friends Bobby and Martha, but it's hard to know if they've found what Grampa wanted her to find since they don't really know what it is. As Libby's father falls deeper and deeper into depression, Libby and Grampa work together on a plan to help her father believe that their loved ones who have died are much closer than he thinks. But it will take all of Libby's courage and her gift of Sight to convince her father and help him believe that the dead are never truly gone.

Never That Far is set in the lush, rural landscape of southern Florida and is a middle-grade novel about friendship, hope, and the power of family love.

  Opening line:
""What you doing, girl?" Daddy said when the burying was done.

Libby is going through a hard time. Her very best friend, her grampa, just died and her daddy isn't paying any attention to her. He's caught up in his own sorrows that stem back before this new death.
That night, her grampa's spirit visits her to comfort her and tell her a few important things. The most important: "The dead ain't never that far...". He also tells her there is a treasure out at the lake on their property. Libby's adventures are about to begin with the help of her new friend Bobby. She finds peace and love and something very, very special, more special than gold bouillon.
If there is a child or parent going through the loss of a loved one, this story is a great reminder that our loved ones are always close, even if we don't see them

NEVER THAT FAR is a story of love, family and most importantly, finding a soft spot to land surrounded by a loving family, both past and present.


Thanks to netgalley and Shadow Mountain for the early read.