Remembering Raquel by Vivian Van Velde

Age Level: Teen

Format: Book

 

Raquel is, from the first page of this book, dead.  She was the kind of girl, as one of her classmates remembers, who had a tendency to be invisible.  At least, she was invisible until one night, when she was hit by a car and killed.

 

In brief chapters, we hear about Raquel’s life and how one seemingly disconnected girl made an impact on the lives of her classmates.

 

This is a story of how one life, no matter how small or insignificant it seems, affects the life of others in a community.  Raquel is a girl who doesn’t really know anyone at the school she goes to.  Only a few people seem to be directly affected by Raquel’s death – Hayley, her best friend who goes to a different school; her online fantasy gaming community; and her father, who is still mourning the death of Raquel’s mother.  But even though these few people are seemingly the only ones that would be affected, an entire community is, as we find out by reading this book.  There are over a dozen narrators, with each chapter a new person – the popular kid, the grandmother, her father, and even the lady who hit Raquel – each one tells their story, their remembrance of how her death affected them.

 

It’s a small book, but it truly shows how every action, no matter how small, will affect how we are remembered.

 

Reviewed by Sara