Dear Patricia MacLachlan,

As an avid reader, I have read many good books. But Edward’s Eyes has repeatedly come
to mind when I recall what books have changed my view on the world, and who I am as a
person. Narrated by Jake, Edward’s older brother, it was a particularly touching story,
and it made me realize what life really means, and what is important.

Before I read your book, I understood that deaths and tragic events like what happened in
Edward’s Eyes could possibly happen, or so I thought. But I had never actually
experienced one. I had only read about them in books. I think on the outside, I thought I
knew they could happen, but deep down, there was always that secret believe that
horrible tragedies like what happened in Edward’s Eyes couldn’t happen. Life was just
too perfect for something bad and evil like death to interrupt it, and bring it down.
But with the reading of your book, the realization swept over me like an unpredicted
tsunami. Things could happen. Life wasn’t perfect. When Edward was killed in the
accident, I started to understand. I suddenly began looking at the world through a whole
new pair of glasses. I noticed every detail, and tried to take mental pictures of beautiful
sun sets, capture the rush of excitement on the sudden drop of a roller-coaster, more
valuable. But life was so short compared to all of eternity. When I felt mad, or grumpy, I
stopped and thought. This is the only life you get to live. This is the only moment in this
life you have. Why waste it pouting? When we are gone and dead, we can’t experience
any more feelings. I tried to imagine what it would be like to have no feelings, no
thoughts. But I couldn’t. It was impossible

I felt as if I were part of Jake’s family, and felt their love, and their grief at losing
Edward. I had gotten to know Edward as well as my best friend, and then I had lost him.
No. His life was so short. People don’t die that young. People only die that early in
books. But this isn’t a book, so he isn’t dead. Those kind of things don’t happen.
I tried to find reasons to deny it, to explain it. The officer who had come to tell us the
news was confused. It wasn’t Edward he was talking about. It was some other boy. Yes,
that was it. Some other boy had been hit. Not Edward. For the first time, I felt real grief.
Edward’s Eyes was a phenomenal book. It was so real, I felt as if I had experienced it,
and it was my own brother who had died. It was amazing.

Thank you for sharing this book with me. This is a book that I will always remember as a
book that changed my life.

Sincerely,

Vanessa Duhrsen

Rogers Park Elementary

Anchorage