The Way Back From Broken by Amber J. Keyser

The Way Back From Broken captures the pain, bewilderment and betrayal felt when a younger sibling dies. Two children, each of whom has experienced the death of a sibling, end up taking a canoe trip with one of their moms. She injures herself, and the two children must make the four day trip back to civilization to get help for the injured adult they were forced to leave behind. Although the content deals with the heartbreaking topic of death of young children, the tale is not depressing and contains what feels like authentic descriptions of the feelings of the surviving children. Much of their canoe journey is metaphoric for having the courage to continue on. I was able to read this through an advance digital copy provided by Net Gallery. One warning is that early on in the story there is reference to a friend who wants to get laid, so it is probably best read by those who are older.

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