November 27, 2017
Smith (The Way I Used to Be) takes up domestic violence and its far-reaching consequences in this empathetic novel of learning to live with painful realities. Sophomore Brooke Winters comes home from school one day to find the police taking her mother into custody after she stabbed and killed Brooke’s physically abusive father. The rest of Smith’s novel deals with the emotional and practical fallout of this tragedy, including its effect on Brooke’s younger sister, Callie, who saw the killing; older brother Aaron, who is trying to keep the family together; and Brooke herself, as she navigates a new school in the fall and comes to terms with her sexuality. A few bright spots surface as Brooke moves through the chaos of her family situation: falling in love with new friend Dani and reconnecting with her Aunt Jackie, who provides the siblings with a source of stability and comfort. But Smith never sugarcoats Brooke’s life; she’s forced to make peace with her new reality, one that readers must accept alongside her in this difficult, honest novel. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jess Regel, Foundry Literary + Media.
November 15, 2017
A white teenage girl tries to keep her family together after her mother murders her abusive father in this sophomore effort by Smith.After high school junior Brooke's mother stabs her father to death in their apartment, Brooke and her younger sister, Callie, are forced to move in with her mom's best friend, Jackie. Flashbacks reveal that Brooke's father has physically abused her mother and also her older brother, Aaron, who now lives with his girlfriend after attempting suicide, for years. Callie was witness to the murder and has gone mute. Brooke convinces Jackie to allow the siblings to live together again in the apartment while their mom awaits trial in hopes that it will help Callie. But when this arrangement begins to fall apart, Brooke tries to make it on her own by lying to everyone, including Dani, the biracial girl she's falling in love with. Brooke's tightly focused first-person narration leaves little room for Smith to flesh out secondary characters or explain their motivations. Dialogue between Brooke and her mother is frustratingly vague, never revealing exactly what happened between Brooke's parents that last day. All this leads to a climax that falls flat because the boilerplate emotional stakes lack any real specificity. Save for Indian/white Dani, the primary cast appears to be white.Ultimately unsatisfying despite its explosive opening. (author's note) (Fiction. 14-18)
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December 1, 2017
Gr 9 Up-Brooke Winters is excited about her junior year and her transfer to the best school in town, until she gets home one day to find her mother has killed her abusive father. Brooke is determined to keep what is left of her family together despite her brother's mental health issues and her sister's trauma. That doesn't leave much time for exploring the feelings for girls she's been putting aside for years or for letting anyone close enough to help with her problems. Brooke can only keep holding on to the appearance of home for so long. Smith shows great skill in navigating such a serious issue with both sensitivity and realistic outcomes. Brooke is a complex and relatable character who, like many teens, struggles when forced to take on adult roles. Her relationships with her siblings are also authentically complicated, and Brooke's sexuality is simply one of the many things she has put aside to focus her energy on family and schoolwork. The pacing and short chapters, as well as the subject matter and lack of easy solutions, will appeal to a wide variety of readers. VERDICT A well-crafted and honest look at family issues and a good pick for fans of Sara Zarr and Laurie Halse Anderson. Highly recommended.-Elizabeth Saxton, Tiffin, OH
Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 1, 2018
Brooke, an academically-minded loner, is looking forward to transferring to a better high school, but everything changes when her mother is arrested for murdering Brooke's abusive policeman father. Brooke struggles to make grades, pay rent, and keep her siblings together. While the sensational plot--and Brooke's emotional journey--proceed unremarkably, Brooke's hesitant relationship with her first girlfriend is tender and well drawn.
(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
Starred review from November 15, 2017
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Brooke Winters' junior year is supposed to offer a fresh start, including a new school better suited to her high academic ambitions. But that clean slate crumbles when her mom, a longtime victim of domestic abuse, stabs and kills her husband, landing herself in jail awaiting trial and fracturing Brooke's family. Brooke doesn't have anyone to turn to: she's living with an aunt and uncle she barely knows; her younger sister is traumatized by witnessing the brutal moment; and her older brother suffers in his own way. But at school, she meets Dani, with whom she develops a friendship and then something more, but from whom she keeps the biggest secret: the truth about her family. Smith's deeply felt sophomore effort (following The Way I Used to Be, 2016) explores the rippling effects of domestic violence and its ability to carry through generations. Smith balances what could have become too interior of a story, providing just the right proportion of flashbacks for readers to understand Brooke's father and Brooke's complex relation to him. Vivid characterizations of the extended family Brooke gets to know, along with others who people her first year on her own, bring the story to life. In this novel told over the four seasons, Smith crafts a story of rebirth, as Brooke forges a new identity by reflecting on a past that cannot be changed.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)