THE NEXT PERSON YOU MEET IN HEAVEN
The Sequel to The Five People You Meet in Heaven
In this enchanting sequel to the number one bestseller The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom tells the story of Eddie’s heavenly reunion with Annie—the little girl he saved on earth—in an unforgettable novel of how our lives and losses intersect.
Fifteen years ago, in Mitch Albom’s beloved novel, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, the world fell in love with Eddie, a grizzled war veteran-turned-amusement park mechanic who died saving the life of a young girl named Annie. Eddie’s journey to heaven taught him that every life matters. Now, in this magical sequel,
In this enchanting sequel to the number one bestseller The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom tells the story of Eddie’s heavenly reunion with Annie—the little girl he saved on earth—in an unforgettable novel of how our lives and losses intersect.
Fifteen years ago, in Mitch Albom’s beloved novel, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, the world fell in love with Eddie, a grizzled war veteran-turned-amusement park mechanic who died saving the life of a young girl named Annie. Eddie’s journey to heaven taught him that every life matters. Now, in this magical sequel, Mitch Albom reveals Annie’s story.
The accident that killed Eddie left an indelible mark on Annie. It took her left hand, which needed to be surgically reattached. Injured, scarred, and unable to remember why, Annie’s life is forever changed by a guilt-ravaged mother who whisks her away from the world she knew. Bullied by her peers and haunted by something she cannot recall, Annie struggles to find acceptance as she grows. When, as a young woman, she reconnects with Paulo, her childhood love, she believes she has finally found happiness.
As the novel opens, Annie is marrying Paulo. But when her wedding night day ends in an unimaginable accident, Annie finds herself on her own heavenly journey—and an inevitable reunion with Eddie, one of the five people who will show her how her life mattered in ways she could not have fathomed.
Poignant and beautiful, filled with unexpected twists, The Next Person You Meet in Heaven reminds us that not only does every life matter, but that every ending is also a beginning—we only need to open our eyes to see it.
- Harper Paperbacks
- Paperback
- October 2019
- 224 Pages
- 9780062294456
Buy the Book
$15.99
About Mitch Albom
Mitch Albom is a best-selling author, screenwriter, playwright and nationally-syndicated columnist. The author of five consecutive #1 New York Times bestsellers, his books have collectively sold more than 33 million copies in forty-two languages worldwide. Tuesdays With Morrie, which spent four straight years atop the New York Times list, is now the bestselling memoir of all time. Four of Albom’s books, including Morrie, The Five People You Meet In Heaven, For One More Day and Have A Little Faith, have been made into highly acclaimed TV movies for ABC. Oprah Winfrey produced “Tuesdays With Morrie,” which claimed four Emmy awards including a best actor nod for Jack Lemmon in the lead role. He has founded six charities in and around Detroit, including the first ever 24-hour medical clinic for homeless children in America, and also operates an orphanage in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Albom lives with his wife, Janine, in metropolitan Detroit.
Praise
“[Albom’s] new novel offers unexpected twists and clever turns that will delight his passionate fans.” — AARP Magazine
“Fans of the first book will have plenty to appreciate here.” — Publishers Weekly
“It’s a tale filled with joy, heart and wisdom, and it’s a reminder to cherish those we love most.” — Woman’s World Magazine
“As Annie learns her lessons about the meaning and value of both life and death, Albom wraps up this heartfelt fable with a totally unexpected twist. Order plenty of copies, and warn readers to keep their hankies handy!” — Booklist
Discussion Questions
1. Why are endings often so difficult and challenging? What’s a healthy balance between staying connected and moving on?
2. What does Annie understand as a nurse that many people may not?
3. Central to Annie’s story and her feelings about herself are supposed mistakes. What constitutes a mistake? In what contexts or situations are they allowable or even necessary?
4. What is Annie’s distant connection to Sameer? How is it that we can be connected to people we have never met? Who might you be distantly connected to?
5. Sameer “chose to flip [his] human existence” and confront the thing he feared most. What stops many people from doing this while alive?
6. Throughout the story, vibrant colors are described. What do such details add? Why are they important to the subject?
7. Consider Annie’s mother, Lorraine. In what ways was she a good mother or not? What influence did Annie’s father have on the two of them?
8. How is it that Cleo, a dog, can be one of the most important “people” in Annie’s life? What makes dogs such good potential companions for humans? What are the limitations to the powerful relationships with a pet?
9. What is the potential value of loneliness? What determines when it becomes debilitating or dangerous?
10. Paulo believes Annie’s injury makes her unique in a valuable way, while she laments being so different. What’s the difference between different or unique? Why is difference in others so often shunned, while most people seem to want to be individuals themselves?
11. Lorraine tries to teach Annie about the danger of keeping secrets: “We think by keeping them, we’re controlling things, but all the while, they’re controlling us.” What does she mean? How is it that secrets can be unhealthy? Are held secrets helpful?
12. Annie was named after a courageous woman who, at age 63, went over Niagara Falls in a barrel. What is courage? How is it different from bravery or recklessness?