More than 5,000* teens are killed in car accidents each year, leaving family, friends, teachers, and others who loved them behind to deal with grief, anger, mortality, and the pain of unfulfilled possibilities. Alicia Afterimage (ISBN: 978-1-60060-242-9, $19.95, 144 pgs, pub date: September 2008) is a compelling new book about loss and recovery after the death of the author's sixteen-year-old daughter, Alicia, in a car crash.
Lulu Delacre, author of Alicia Afterimage, marks the four-year anniversary of her daughter's death with this loving and meaningful tribute to an extraordinary girl. Rather than give in to feelings of helplessness after the accident, Delacre courageously shaped her experience to the benefit of others. She shares this most personal of stories, intimately exploring the thoughts and emotions of Alicia's family and closest friends, to help teens and adults cope with such a devastating loss and to provide validation for the varied responses they have when faced with the pain of losing someone they cherished. Dr. Mimi Mahon, Advanced Practice Nurse in Palliative Care and Ethics, George Mason University, notes that Alicia Afterimage is "a very good picture of adolescent grief. The best I have ever read. . . . (It) show(s) well the two faces of pain: wanting/needing to confront it, but also the need to escape it." Delacre also speaks candidly about the process of writing this book in a video interview found at www.leeandlow.com/p/lulu_interview.mhtml.
Award-winning children's book creator Lulu Delacre has illustrated thirty books for young readers, many of which she also wrote or compiled. Delacre is known for her authentic portrayals of family life, emotion, love, and compassion. Alicia Afterimage is her first book for young adults. A native of Puerto Rico, Delacre lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.