Someone Else’s Bucket List

In this poignant novel, social media influencer Bree Boyd dies of leukemia, having amassed hundreds of thousands of followers, but unfortunately without health insurance. She leaves her parents and her sister Jodie in crushing medical debt. Nearly a year after her death though, a preplanned Instagram video appears in which Bree “announces” that she’s arranged for a sponsorship deal for Jodie. If Jodie can complete Bree’s bucket list, the sponsor will pay off the medical debt. All Jodie has to do is: 1) plant a shade tree; 2) take piano lessons from Mr. Wong; 3) eat a sandwich in a New York deli while reenacting a movie scene; 4) do a walk-on part in a Broadway show; 5) fly over Antarctica; and 6)—hardest of all—fall in love. Except Mr. Wong is dead, making the piano lessons harder to receive, and Jodie is still grieving the loss of Bree, as all of her late sister’s followers watch her foibles on social media.