A01=R.L. Toalson
Author_R.L. Toalson
big brother little brother
book in verse
boy characters
brothers
Category=YFN
Category=YFV
Category=YXED
Category=YXFR
Category=YXLD2
depression
eq_bestseller
eq_childrens
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_personal-social-topics
eq_teenage-young-adult
family dynamics
family matters
family secret
finding hope
forthcoming
grief
guilt
healing
love
mental health
mental health matters
novel-in-verse
pain
poetry
speaking up
struggle
suicidal
suicide attempt
support system
thought-provoking
unforgettable
Product details
- ISBN 9781665956307
- Weight: 513g
- Dimensions: 140 x 210mm
- Publication Date: 02 Jul 2026
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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Three starred reviews!
A “gut-wrenching and unforgettable” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) novel in verse about a boy struggling with guilt as his family reels from the fallout of his older brother’s extreme depression and tries to hold onto hope.
My brother’s not here.
My brother’s not here.
My brother’s not here.
And it’s all
because of
me.
Brooks loves and adores his older brother, Oliver. That’s why it was so hard—practically impossible, really—for him to have done what he did and told his parents about what Oliver wanted to do.
Now Oliver has been sent away. He’s miserable, and Brooks’s family is falling apart. His mom and dad are sad and scared, and it seems like nothing will ever be okay again. Maybe things would be better if Brooks had just kept his mouth shut. Can he and his family find the hope they need to keep going?
A “gut-wrenching and unforgettable” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) novel in verse about a boy struggling with guilt as his family reels from the fallout of his older brother’s extreme depression and tries to hold onto hope.
My brother’s not here.
My brother’s not here.
My brother’s not here.
And it’s all
because of
me.
Brooks loves and adores his older brother, Oliver. That’s why it was so hard—practically impossible, really—for him to have done what he did and told his parents about what Oliver wanted to do.
Now Oliver has been sent away. He’s miserable, and Brooks’s family is falling apart. His mom and dad are sad and scared, and it seems like nothing will ever be okay again. Maybe things would be better if Brooks had just kept his mouth shut. Can he and his family find the hope they need to keep going?
R.L. Toalson grew up running wild through corn rows and cow-grazing fields and recording true and wildly exaggerated false tales to entertain her friends, family members, and anyone who would listen. She still runs (literally) wild through the streets of her city and spends most of her days recording true (if a little exaggerated) and false tales to entertain anyone who will listen. She lives in San Antonio, Texas, with her one brilliant husband, six delightful children, and two arrogant cats. She’s the author of The Colors of the Rain, which won the Arnold Adoff Poetry Honor Award for New Voices in 2020; The Woods, which received a starred review from Booklist; the highly acclaimed The First Magnificent Summer; and Dirty Windows Don’t Open. Visit her at RachelToalson.com.
