Book Review: Anatomy of Lost Things by Shawn K. Stout

Publisher’s description
A laugh-through-your-tears middle grade novel about what it’s like to lose something precious. For fans of the Three Rancheros series by Kate DiCamillo.
A necklace. A bugle. A lion statue. What do they have to do with each other? Absolutely nothing unless you’re Tildy, Leon, or Nell. These items matter an awful lot to them. Not because of what they are, but what—and who—they represent.
Anatomy of Lost Things shares the crisscrossing stories of Tildy, Leon, and Nell, of the impossible losses they’ve each recently faced, and the unexpected histories of their prized objects. Written with heartbreaking honesty and humor, this novelunfolds in the tender space that exists between staggering loss and the start of recovery, and it finds plenty of hope and laughter waiting there.
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Amanda’s thoughts
I’ve made a weird resolution for my summer: read less. I KNOW. It’s a weird one, but hear me out: I read A TON. I generally spend every free second reading, trying to plow through as many books as I can as fast as I can. But I’m using my summer to focus on all the things going on with me, mentally and physically, that need some attention and repair. I hate doing almost anything else other than reading because no matter what it is, I’d probably rather be reading. Do an hour of PT exercises for all my woes daily? I’d rather read. Go to the gym because my brain needs that time? I’d rather read. So I’m trying to not just read all day every day. I’m trying to read more slowly. I’m trying not to feel like my TBR is this looming thing that causes me anxiety. Also? My kid moves out in August. If there’s a chance he will pay attention to me this summer, I’m putting my book down!
This all means I probably will miss a lot of good books. So when I went to sort my June books, I almost skipped this one. I just can’t read everything. I can’t. But the summary sounded interesting, so I started it to see what I thought. And then I read the whole thing. And I loved it. The three main characters have all lost something or someone recently. As far as the things go, that’s something you can maybe track down and get back. As for the someones they have lost, that’s more complicated. For Tildy, her mother abandoned the family a while ago and now is back. For Nell, she lost one of her mothers and then also her home. For Leon, he lost a grandparent who was raising him and now may lose the family’s business. It’s a lot to deal with for people of any age, but for children, it’s especially hard. How do we navigate losses? How do we accept that some people are just gone? And maybe even more complicatedly, how do we accept people who have left but come back? We learn more about their lives and the lives of those around them through various items that come through Tildy’s family’s auction house. Together, with the help of each other and the adults in their lives, the kids learn that life is unfortunately full of lost things, but grief over those losses doesn’t have to be carried alone. A really moving read full of humor, hope, and connection. A great read.
Review copy (ARC) courtesy of the publisher
ISBN-13: 9781682635872
Publisher: Holiday House
Publication date: 06/18/2024
Age Range: 8 – 12 Years
Filed under: Book Reviews

About Amanda MacGregor
Amanda MacGregor works in an elementary library, loves dogs, and can be found on BlueSky at @amandamacgregor.bsky.social.
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