I actually read about a third of this, stopped to finish some schoolwork, and then went back to it and was confused. I started over, and then things that hadn’t made sense suddenly did and it turns out I REALLY liked it.

At times confusing as it tells the story of several narrators in first person (without ever overtly announcing the shift), ELIC is touching and compelling just the same. I loved the idea that good things are worth “one hundred dollars,” how sadness, guilt or stress equals “heavy boots,” and the overall quirkiness of the main character kid.

This is the first post-9/11 fiction I’ve read and I found it original enough to stand on its own without lots of backstory, not trivializing or trite at all, and not “too soon” as I’d feared.