“I know you’re not one thing. Knowing you is not one thing, it was never one thing. It’s a million things. And now the place holding them together is me.”

A MILLION THINGS follows Rae, a ten-year-old girl whose mother suffers from mental illness. Rae’s mom often gets stuck in the dark places in her head. One day she doesn’t make her way back in from the shed and Rae discovers her body. Rae decides to stick to her routines. She goes to school and blends in, walks and feeds the dog, buys groceries and pays the bills with her mother’s debit card, and desperately tries to mask the smell coming from the backyard. She goes on living as usual until the nosy old woman next door falls and needs her help. Rae discovers the old woman, Lettie, has secrets of her own and the two form an unlikely friendship.

Thoughts:
Rae is a resilient young girl and I wished that I could reach through these pages and give her a big hug. Her anxiety worsens and she knows everything will come crashing down but until then she just wants to maintain some sense of normalcy. Her scruffy dog Splinter is a constant comfort through all of this and eventually Lettie is too. This is a book that found me right when I needed it. I get discouraged when the world feels like too much but when it comes down to it, most people are inherently good, empathetic, and concerned with the welfare of others. This book is a great reminder of that. Although the story is told from Rae’s perspective, this is very much an adult novel that revolves around mental illness and suicide. Spurr handles these topics in an incredibly tender and thoughtful manner and keeps the story from feeling too heavy with witty humor, a furry companion, and leaves us with a sense of hope. This is a heart-wrenching novel about mental illness, friendship, life, love, and loss.

This is an exceptionally well-written story that I’ll be recommending to everyone and thinking back on often. ♥️