Quickly, I clear my history and double-check to make sure there’s no trace of my searches.
“What are you doing?”
I turn around wearing a face that has to give me away, I’m sure of it. It’s Ruth, the memory of A Wrinkle in Time and my promise to never read it again no doubt burned in her brain. She’s holding a piece of paper in her hand.
“Nothing,” I answer. “I’m just finishing up work for Dad.”
“Okay,” she answers, a long, wary pause sitting awkwardly between the word’s two syllables. Oh-kay.
“I thought if you had a chance you could go over the grocery list with me, just to see if I’ve missed anything,” she continues.
“Sure,” I say, burying the realization that despite all of my promises about how I won’t read certain things and how I will listen to our father, I’m now lying to Ruth for real.
ALSO BY JENNIFER MATHIEU
The Truth About Alice
Devoted
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jennifer Mathieu started writing stories when she was in kindergarten and now teaches English to high school students. She won the Teen Choice Debut Author Award at the Children’s Choice Book Awards for her first novel, The Truth About Alice. She is also the author of Devoted and Afterward. She lives in Texas with her husband, son, dog, and cat. You can sign up for email updates here.
Thank you for buying this
Roaring Brook Press ebook.
To receive special offers, bonus content,
and info on new releases and other great reads,
sign up for our newsletters.
Or visit us online at
us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup
For email updates on the author, click here.
CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Caroline—Before
Ethan—Before
Ethan—92 Days Afterward
Caroline—96 Days Afterward
Ethan—105 Days Afterward
Caroline—109 Days Afterward
Ethan—132 Days Afterward
Caroline—140 Days Afterward
Ethan—146 Days Afterward
Caroline—148 Days Afterward
Ethan—149 Days Afterward
Caroline—157 Days Afterward
Ethan—161 Days Afterward
Caroline—161 Days Afterward
Ethan—163 Days Afterward
Caroline—183 Days Afterward
Ethan—187 Days Afterward
Caroline—199 Days Afterward
Ethan—201 Days Afterward
Caroline—212 Days Afterward
Ethan—224 Days Afterward
Ethan—226 Days Afterward
Caroline—232 Days Afterward
Ethan—233 Days Afterward
Caroline—238 Days Afterward
Ethan—260 Days Afterward
Caroline—262 Days Afterward
Ethan—264 Days Afterward
Caroline—288 Days Afterward
Ethan—289 Days Afterward
Caroline—291 Days Afterward
Ethan—306 Days Afterward
Caroline—312 Days Afterward
Ethan—315 Days Afterward
Caroline—329 Days Afterward
Ethan—390 Days Afterward
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
The Truth About Alice Teaser
Devoted Teaser
Also By Jennifer Mathieu
About the Author
Copyright
Text copyright © 2016 by Jennifer Mathieu
Published by Roaring Brook Press
Roaring Brook Press is a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010
fiercereads.com
All rights reserved
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Mathieu, Jennifer, author.
Title: Afterward: a novel / Jennifer Mathieu.
Description: First edition. | New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2016. | Summary: When eleven-year-old Dylan Anderson is kidnapped, his subsequent rescue leads to the discovery of Ethan Jorgensen, who had disappeared four years earlier, and now Dylan’s sister Caroline befriends Ethan and wants to learn the truth about her autistic brother’s captivity.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016004764 | ISBN 9781626722385 (hardback)
Subjects: | CYAC: Kidnapping—Fiction. | Missing children—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | Brothers and sisters—Fiction. | Autism—Fiction. | Memory—Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.M4274 Af 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016004764
Our eBooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945 ext. 5442 or by e-mail at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.
eISBN 9781626722392
First hardcover edition, 2016
eBook edition, September 2016