epistolary
Epistolary means "in the form of a letter or letters", and may refer to:
* Epistolary ( la, epistolarium), a Christian liturgical book containing set readings for church services from the New Testament Epistles
* Epistolary novel
* Epistolary poem ...
,
young-adult novel
Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults.
The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...
by the American writer Philip Beard. which was first published in 2004. The narrator is fifteen-year-old Tess DeNunzio, who writes to her younger sister Zoe about her experiences after Zoe died. The novel is set in 2002 in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
and follows Tess's first year of high school.
''Dear Zoe'' tells the story of 15-year-old Tess DeNunzio, who is wracked by guilt after losing her half-sister in a hit-and-run accident on the day of the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
. The novel was selected by ''Booklist'', a magazine of the
American Library Association
The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...
, as one of the ten best first novels of 2005.
When Beard originally wrote this novel, he was advised by a friend to change the format from epistolary to first person. After he made these changes and sent the manuscript to publisher, the manuscript was rejected several times. It was not until he changed it back to being an epistolary novel that he was published. Beard had a hard time publishing "Dear Zoe". After being rejected so many times, he decided to self-publish. While he was in the process of self-publishing, he went to a bookstore near his house that his friend owned. His friend and owner of the bookstore gave a copy of his manuscript to a publisher at
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.American Library Association
The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...
named it one of the best books in 2005.
Background and writing
Beard took inspiration for Tess's character from his own stepdaughter who was Tess's age when he first started writing. Beard first started writing this novel before 9/11 happened. The death of Zoe was not planned until after 9/11. All Beard had originally planned was for Tess to go live with her biological father. The events of 9/11 inspired him to wonder how many other people died on that day that seemed to be forgotten about. Thus Beard's first novel was created. Beard had said in an interview that this book was emotionally draining to write. Once he was finished writing the book, Beard found it difficult to publish. His friend who owned a local bookstore gave his manuscript to a representative from
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.ource needed/sup>
Plot
The story begins with 15-year-old Tess Denuizo who is remembering how her family named her sister. Tess gives insight about her family in the first chapter. The reader learns that Tess has two half sisters and David is her stepfather. Her biological father is a mess. Tess talks about how her relationship with David is very different from her two sisters. By the third chapter, it is revealed that something terrible happened to her sister Zoe almost a year previous. She talks a lot about how the family has been coping. The family attends therapy and tries to get through the death of Zoe, but things have been hard. Tess's mom has become very depressed and was once the leader of the house, but now David and Tess do everything around the house. Tess learns that her mother might have been sleeping with Justin, a young man who works at the store that is down the street from their house. After this event, Tess decides to move in with her biological father. She starts to adapt to her new living arrangements and has a hard time knowing she left her sister Em, who is much younger than her. She goes to see her at school and promises to see her every week. Tess has a moment with the boy next door, Jimmy Freeze, where she listens to the music he is playing. After this moment, she starts to see him around more. She finally talks to him one day while she is sitting on her porch and offers him a beer but his dad refuses to let her give him one. Her dad then warns her to stay away from him. One day when she is sitting outside on the porch, a man named Travis approaches her. Travis claims to be a friend of her father. Travis gives her money to give to her dad, which Tess finds weird. He asks her if she has ever had some of the "product" but Tess did not understand. Travis then asks her if she would like to smoke weed but Tess denies it. After Travis leaves, Tess confronts her dad about him selling weed. After their encounter, Tess starts hanging out with Jimmy Freeze without telling her dad. One night, Jimmy sneaks into Tess's window and they smoke weed together. It is now summer time and Tess gets a job at boardwalk working at a lemonade stand. Jimmy and Tess start hanging out more, with much of their time consisting of smoking and kissing. David asks Tess to start calling her mother again and their relationship improves. On Tess's sixteenth birthday, she wakes up to find out her dad and Jimmy are in jail for selling weed. Tess is home with her dog when her dad comes home from jail. Her dog runs into the street and her father hits the dog. Her dad brings the dog to the veterinarian while Jimmy stays with her. This event triggers her memory of what happened to Zoe. She tells the story about how she was supposed to be watching Zoe outside but she ran inside to watch the news of 9/11 when her sister ran into the street and was killed by a car. Her dad returns hours later and reassures Tess that her dog is going to be fine. When she goes to bed that night, she wakes up and forces her dad to bring her home to get a picture of Zoe. When she goes inside, she realizes she needs to stay. In the final chapter, Tess talks about how she is coping. She continues to see Jimmy, and things seem to be improving.ntire section needs improving/sup>
Themes
Tess uses the letters to work through some deep issues that surfaced from the death of Zoe. Some of the key themes have been going on before Zoe's death. By writing to Zoe, Tess eventually has closure and accepts her sister's death. One theme is conflict. Tess has conflicts between Zoe's death and 9/11, confusing family relationships. Fate, Guilt, Escape and holding on.
There are many conflicts that go on in the novel. The first major one is the tragedy of 9/11 and Zoe's death. Zoe happened to die on 9/11 but not from the terrorist attacks. This issue is something that the main character Tess often brings up. Another opposite conflict that Tess often compares is David and her dad Nick. She constantly brings up the differences between them. David is well put together and accomplished in his life. On the other hand, Tess's dad, Nick does not do much at all. They both treat her differently and in different manners. She is constantly comparing them to each other. In addition, she brings up the biological divide between her and her sisters. This causes constant internal conflict for Tess because she is treated differently.
The many other themes of the books are fate, guilt, escaping and not being able to move on. The theme of fate is brought up a lot in this novel. Tess always Guilt is a theme that dominates most of the novel. The reader does not find out what happens to Zoe until the end but guilt is an underlying theme for Tess. She feels guilty not only for Zoe's death but also for leaving her other sister Emily home while she lives at her father's house. Which is the next theme of the book, escaping. Tess escapes from her reality by moving in with her biological father. She could not handle what was going on at home between her mother, Zoe and her own emotions to stay there. Tess also escapes with drugs. She experiments with marijuana with the next-door neighbor, Jimmy Freeze. When she uses marijuana, it is like everything stops for her. Although the book span is over a year, all the characters are not able to move on from the death of Zoe.
Publication and reviews
"Dear Zoe" was first published in 2002 by
Penguin
Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...
. "Dear Zoe" were originally written and marketed for adults but after appearing on the
American Library Association
The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...
’s list, it became a novel for young adults. The novel has had a lot of positive reception and reviews. Booklist named it one of the Ten Best First Novels of the Year. The School Library Journal named it one of the "Best Books of 2005" in the category of "Best Adult Books for High School Students". "Dear Zoe" has great reviews from notable publishers and websites like the BookList, ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'', and ''
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...
''. Many schools now read "Dear Zoe" because it deals with a loss of a family member. It is a coming of age novel where students can identify easily with Tess and her experiences not only with death but growing up in general.
Film adaptation
In November 2019, ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' reported that a film adaptation was in development, directed by Gren Wells and starring
Sadie Sink
Sadie Elizabeth Sink (born April 16, 2002) is an American actress. She began acting at age seven in local theater productions, and played the title role in '' Annie'' (2012–14) and young Queen Elizabeth II in '' The Audience'' (2015) on Broad ...
,
Theo Rossi
John Theodore Rossi (born June 4, 1975) is an American actor and producer. He portrayed Juan Carlos "Juice" Ortiz on the FX series ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–2014) and Hernan "Shades" Alvarez in ''Luke Cage'' (2016–2018). His film roles i ...
,
Jessica Capshaw
Jessica Capshaw (born August 9, 1976) is an American actress known for her roles as Jamie Stringer in ''The Practice'', and as Dr. Arizona Robbins on the ABC medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy''.
Early life
Capshaw was born on August 9, 1976, in ...
,
Justin Bartha
Justin Lee Bartha (born July 21, 1978) is an American actor, known for his roles as Riley Poole in the ''National Treasure'' film series, Doug Billings in ''The Hangover'' trilogy, and David Sawyer in the NBC comedy series '' The New Normal''. ...
and
Vivien Lyra Blair
Vivien Lyra Blair (born ) is an American child actress who made her debut in the 2017 film '' Band Aid''. In 2018, she rose to prominence for her role as Girl in the film '' Bird Box''. Blair garnered further recognition for her appearances in ...
. The filming began in October 2019 in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...