not quite as strong as the opening book, but all together this is a nice little series about big issues. i like where he went with each aspect of the story that he started in the first book (although i don't think you needed to have read that one to pick this one up).

he didn't come back around to marco's brother and how he was handling their dad's death, and that's a loose thread that should have been wrapped up, i thought. the only other thing that wasn't clarified was when marco found the corks in his neighbor's house (like the box his dad had) after he died. there's more to be plumbed there. (or it shouldn't have been included.) but generally this handles a lot of hard topics well, and is worth a read. ( )

I am loving this book, and I'm ususally not a fan of graphic novels. I think that the writer has a deep and thoughtful understanding of what it is like to be alive, and he manages to be touching with becoming sentimental or manipulative. Just human. ( )