A Map of the Known World
by Lisa Ann Sandell

    A MAP OF THE KNOWN WORLD by Lisa Ann Sandell
    Category:  Contemporary
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 9+
    Release Date:  4/15/09
    Publisher:  Scholastic
    Reviewed by:  Jennifer Rummel
    Rating:  5 Stars


    Anger and pain consume Cora; they have since last year when her brother died.  

    Now her family’s broken, barely speaking to each other and barely surviving.  Nate’s the one who died, but Cora
    feels the brunt of her parent’s disappointment, sadness, and anger.  

    She’s not allowed out after dark, she must come straight home from school, and she can’t get into a car without a
    parent’s approval. .

    All summer long, she’s spent the days inside her room imagining the places in the world she’d rather be, while
    drawing maps and pictures of her travels.  Now she must face reality and start high school.  

    She doesn’t enter as an unknown, but as the sister of her dead brother.  Everyone knew Nate, but not everyone
    liked him.

    Cora’s just trying to survive, but along the way her heart opens.  She talks to her brother’s best friend, who was in
    the car that night, and things change.  He shows her a side of her brother she didn’t know.

    Lisa Ann Sandell writes a breathtakingly beautiful and heart-wrenching novel that will haunt you long after you’re
    finished.