"Hello to Goodbye Days " by Gabriella M.

    “Where are you guys? Text me back.”
     A string of humdrum words sent in a mindless hurry from his cellphone changed the trajectory of Carver Brigg’s life and everyone around him. Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner and published Penguin Random House, is a coming of age novel set in a close knit Nashville, Tennessee community. The reader is introduced to high-school senior, Carver Briggs, as he struggles to live without his three best friends Mars, Eli, and Blake. Driving back from a movie with the other two friends, Mars looked down to reply to Carter’s innocuous text when he rear-ends a truck and ended all three of their brief lives in an instance. Now alone and learning to live with this crippling guilt and overwhelming grief, Carver not only must decode and understand his own feelings, but also figure out how to relate with the families of the boys he once called friends. It was not until Nana Betsy, Blake’s grandmother, asked to spend a day with Carter to learn more about her grandson that they were both able to begin the time consuming healing process. His friends’ parents also wanted to spend a “goodbye day” with Carter to relive their son’s last days. Carter saw this as a daunting task as he was still overwhelmed with guilt and shame, but proceeded in hopes that tracing back the threads that kept their friendship alive would bring him peace. Carter lived in confusion, saying, “We assume that it's better to survive things, but the ones who don't survive don't have to miss anyone. So sometimes I don't know

which is better." While consumed with a grave feeling that the grounds beneath him would crumble, he also must worry about possibly going to jail for “murdering” his best friends. With a whirlwind of emotions, Carter must learn the ins and outs of life and death all while trying to survive senior year without his three other heartbeats.
     With interweaving flashbacks to “the good ol’ days”, Zentner successfully balances the depictions of Carver’s lively past, his miserable present, and the overwhelming uncertainty of his future. This back and forth writing style offers an unexpected element of humor to this sullen story of loss and grief. Carver’s recollections of life before the accident provides a glimpse to a time when the four boys were the popular and well loved “Sauce Crew”. These humor-filled narratives reflect normal teenage interactions that radiate a youthful simplicity dispersed throughout the book. These vivid memories offer the reader a reprieve by juxtaposing Carver’s current stack realities with pages of cheerfully light pleasures like burgers and ice cream.
     We live in a time of instant answers where questions are a google away, but this novel is notable for exploring the unexplainable and the power of acceptance. Zentner successfully tackles topics of guilt, grief, confronting one's emotions, and when it's acceptable to step out of the darkness to embrace light. Through weather and color imagery, internal dialogue, and colorful language, he is able to make these tough topics accessible and relatable to young audiences. As Carver confronts his anxiety and confusion, he finds that a solution requires much more than sitting and “waiting it out” and finds himself hopeless in a pit of depression. “I wish it would rain. Torrents. So hard it would cleanse me of worry and trouble; so hard it would lift the stain of death from me and carry it to the rivers and out the sea.”

     Goodbye Days offers a believable look into high school relational dynamics that are often undervalued when discussing difficult topics. This stands in contrast to the common tendency to replace deep discussions with oversaturated pop culture references in failed attempts to relate to the teens of today. One page has the potential to make you reconsider the validity of life itself, and another offers a much needed laugh. This multifaceted approach not only draws attention to the drastic impact his friends’ deaths had on him and how he wishes to go back to change it all, it also allows the audience to pick up on these changes and be an active observer of his grieving process in order to reflect on themselves and how they appreciate life.
     With its unremarkably touching friendships and family dynamics, constant reminders to appreciate life, and an emphasis on mental health, Goodbye Days emphasizes the value of suffering. The author walks the reader through a dark tunnel holding a flashlight; encouraging us to find the treasures in dark places. After months of agony, Carver eventually realizes life is not meant to be devoid of pain rather to use the affliction as a reason for being. He reminds himself, and the audience, that “our memories of our loved ones are the pearl we form around the grain of grief that causes us pain.”