Boo — Neil Smith

"Do you ever wonder, dear Mother and Father, what kind of toothpaste angels use in heaven? I will tell you.... This book I am writing to you about my afterlife will be your nitty-gritty. One day I hope to discover a way to deliver my story to you."

It is the first week of school in 1979, and Oliver "Boo" Dalrymple -- ghostly pale eighth grader; aspiring scientist; social pariah -- is standing next to his locker, reciting the periodic table. The next thing he knows, he finds himself lying in a strange bed in a strange land. He is a new resident of a place called Town -- an afterlife exclusively for thirteen-year-olds. Soon Boo is joined by Johnny Henzel, a fellow classmate, who brings with him a piece of surprising news about the circumstances of the boys' deaths.

In Town, there are no trees or animals, just endless rows of redbrick dormitories surrounded by unscalable walls. No one grows or ages, but everyone arrives just slightly altered from who he or she was before. To Boo's great surprise, the qualities that made him an outcast at home win him friends; and he finds himself capable of a joy he has never experienced. But there is a darker side to life after death -- and as Boo and Johnny attempt to learn what happened that fateful day, they discover a disturbing truth that will have profound repercussions for both of them.

Hilarious and heartwarming, poignant and profound, BOO is a unique look at the bonds of friendship in what is, ultimately, a book about finding your place in the world -- be it this one, or the next.