• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 7
• Reading age: 9 to 12

Key Selling Points

• This book explores loneliness and the lessons we can learn about how it can bring people together.
• Loneliness is a global phenomenon that affects people young and old. In the UK (2019) and Japan (2020) governments appointed ministers of loneliness to tackle the problem in their respective countries.
• The COVID-19 pandemic school closures, lockdowns and social-distancing rules took a toll on youth mental health and put their loneliness and isolation in the spotlight.
• Author Petti Fong is the host and researcher of the Alone Together podcast. It was launched during the pandemic and features interviews with more than 200 people around the world with expertise on and insight into loneliness. The show has been heard in more than 30 countries and downloaded by hundreds of thousands of listeners.

Petti Fong is a journalist, educator and author. She was a staff reporter at the Vancouver Sun, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star and CBC and now writes for The Economist. Petti teaches journalism, ethics and business communications at Kwantlen University, Langara College and the University of British Columbia. During the pandemic she created and hosted a podcast with interviews from experts around the world on the topics of isolation and loneliness. The podcast, Alone Together, has been downloaded by hundreds of thousands of listeners and heard in more than 30 countries. Petti lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Petti Fong's profile page

Jonathan Dyck is an award-winning illustrator, designer and cartoonist. Since graduating from design school, he has worked with a range of clients across various applications, from editorial illustration in magazines and books to logo design and illustrations for coffee mugs, t-shirts and posters. Jonathan lives in Winnipeg, on Treaty 1 Territory and the homeland of the Métis Nation.

Jonathan Dyck's profile page

“Alone Together is a resource not only for preteen or teen audience but also an engaging resource for any adult. Highly Recommended.”

CM: Canadian Review of Materials

“With no tropes to lean on, Fong has taken apart the topics of “alone” and “together” that preoccupied everyone during the lockdown phase of the pandemic, and created an accessible guide to individual integrity…Fong is thoughtful in the material included but lighthearted in its rendering, and young readers will find much to consider in this “Think” series entry.”

School Library Journal (SLJ)

“Fong emphasizes that even when we’re alone, we’re in it together—and we can work through it together. An excellent SEL resource.”

Booklist