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Description
A resourceful teenager in rural Vermont struggles to hold on to the family home while his mom recovers from addiction. Text contains profanity and drug use.
Quick Summary
If you've ever wondered what it would be like to be the one holding everything together when no one else can, this book gets there in a way that feels completely real. The main character is this scrappy Vermont kid who finds himself basically running the household while his mom works through recovery, and what's really memorable is how the author lets him be funny and stubborn and messed up all at the same time it's not a sad-book-where-everyone-cries situation, there's actually a lot of dark humor and teenage eye-rolling that makes it feel like an actual kid wrote it. Kids who like stories with real stakes and characters who don't have everything figured out will probably fly through this, and it's a good fit for readers who might normally skip "issue" books because it doesn't feel preachy. Parents should know there's some profanity and drug use mentioned since it's part of the reality of the situation, but it's not glorified just part of the messy, honest picture. Fans of books like "The Outsiders" or anyone who likes stories about finding your own family and holding onto home when everything feels like it's falling apart will probably connect with this one.