Elsewhere

     "Elsewhere" by Gabrielle Zevin explores the question, what happens after we die? And the idea of heaven, or somewhere like it.
      Liz Hall, a teenager, is (SPOLER) hit by a car, and dies. She awakes on a ship, and meets another girl around the same age there, telling her she is well on her way to Elsewhere. Elsewhere is the place people go after they die, and arrive at the age they died at. They don't stay there in eternal bliss however, they live there in a town, have a job, live normally, but age backward until they are newborns, and are shipped back to Earth to be reborn again.
      The thoughts of Liz Hall, especially considering the young age she passed away at, made me sad when reading the book. I couldn't imagine knowing I had died, that the people on Earth were without me, and I wasn't part of their lives anymore. That along with aging backward and having to start a "new life" in the meantime in Elsewhere would drive me insane. Liz becomes obsessed with looking at Earth and seeing what her friends and family do when she's not there. I think I would do the same thing.
      The book "Elsewhere" is an incredible book that everyone should read.