Great Adult/YA Crossover! New from Berkley!

Wrobel, Stephanie.  Darling Rose Gold.  Berkley, 2020.

For nearly two decades, everyone thought Patty Watts was the perfect mother and model citizen.  She helped her neighbors in need.  She volunteered in the community.  All this, while raising her terribly sick daughter, Rose Gold, who was in and out of hospitals and doctors’ offices, and was eventually confined to a wheelchair.  The town held fundraisers to help Patty cover costs for Rose Gold’s medical bills, and everyone said what a brave mother she was.

However, everything changes when Rose Gold turns sixteen and figures out how to use the Internet.  While her mom is sleeping, Rose Gold searches the web and discovers that her mother has been poisoning her since she was a baby.  With a family friend’s help, Rose Gold testifies against her mother, and Patty goes to prison for five years for child abuse.

When Patty is released from prison, Rose Gold decides to let Patty live with her for a time.  Rose Gold is now twenty-three years old and is a single mother of Adam, a two-month old infant.  The community is astounded when Rose Gold accepts Patty into her home, considering what went on in their past.  

Unknown the town, Rose Gold is hiding secrets, and she has bought Patty’s family home, which holds agonizing memories for Patty.  Patty thinks that all she has to do is win Rose Gold’s trust and love back, and then she will be in control again.  But revenge is a dish best served cold.  Rose Gold has been seething about her childhood treatment and has big surprises for Patty.

This debut novel by Stephanie Wrobel is written in alternating voices of mother and daughter both in present time and flashbacks.  Both characters are extremely well-developed, and are strong, devious protagonists who each has their own agenda.  The pairs’ minds reveal the motives and consequences of mental and physical abuse.  They are both damaged, unreliable narrators; they are indifferent to their actions and maniacal in their own ways.  While neither character is particularly likeable, readers will want one or the other to “win”.

The flashbacks tell the backstory of their lives and are smoothly fused into the plot.   Although the novel is character-driven, the narrative is disturbing and suspenseful, full of crazy twists and turns.  The plot has compelling pacing that will keep readers turning the pages.

Even though this psychological thriller is written for adults, teens will be drawn to it.  Hand it to adult readers of Gone Girl and teen readers of Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig.  I highly recommend it for public libraries and high school libraries for grades ten and up.  I give it five out of five fleur de lis!

Roe, Robin.  A List of Cages.  Disney-Hyperion, 2017.

Adam Blake, a senior in high school, is the happiest, most energetic, albeit clumsy, student at his high school.  Although he has ADHD, he has learned to compensate and has excelled in his classes and is one of the school’s most popular students.  One of his classes involves being a student aide to Dr. Whitlock, the school psychologist, and he is bored most of the time during this period.  One day, she asks Adam to locate a freshman named Julian, who, consequently, lived with Adam and his mom for a while after both of his parents were killed in a tragic car accident.  After several years, Julian’s uncle took custody of him, and the Blakes were not allowed to see him.

Adam is thrilled to see Julian again and is happy that he actually remembers him.  However, Julian has become extremely shy and withdrawn and is slow to open up to Adam.  We learn through Julian’s eyes that he also has undiagnosed dyslexia and is scorned by many teachers for his poor grades and scholastic performance. 

Adam begins spending a lot of time with Julian, and he is accepted into Adam’s group of senior friends.  Adam notices that Julian’s clothes are old and do not fit him well, and that Julian often misses school due to illness.  Adam eventually figures out that Julian is keeping secrets from both him and Dr. Whitlock.  What Adam and his friends ultimately discover about Julian could put all their lives at risk!

This debut novel by Robin Roe is an emotional roller coaster of a ride.  I am a sucker for teenage male protagonists, and she has created some very special ones.  The novel is character-driven, told in first-person through the eyes of Adam and Julian.  All the characters, including the supporting group, are exceptionally well developed.  Adam is just a great guy and well liked by students and teachers.  Julian has had a lot of trauma in his life since losing his parents but is still disdained by his teachers and his impatient, evil uncle.  All of Adam’s friends have distinct personalities.  I did not like Charlie, Adam’s best bud, at first, but he grew so much during the story that I actually ended up loving him.  He is like a giant, lovable teddy bear and fiercely loyal to his friends!

The dialogue and setting are authentic, the characters are wonderful, and the villain is hateful.  I could not believe the abuse that Julian has to endure from his uncle, who does not even care for him one bit.  The scenes where Julian is locked in a trunk emotionally drained me.  It was no surprise to find out that Robin Roe is an adolescent counselor, since she portrays the characters so realistically and compassionately.

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This novel has it all—family, friendship, great characters, a little romance, drama, and a happy ending, despite cruelty.  It is a real page-turner, and I highly recommend it for high school and public libraries.  I give it five out of five fleur de lis!

Review of Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt

Schmidt, Gary D.  Orbiting Jupiter.  Clarion, 2015.

Life has not been easy for fourteen-year-old Joseph Brook.  He has endured abuse by his alcoholic father, a placing in a group home setting, life at a juvenile detention center, and worse of all, incarceration in a high-security prison, where other inmates abused him.  As a last resort, a social worker places him with the Hurd family, who lives on a farm in Maine.  Joseph joins twelve-year-old Jack, who had been adopted by the Hurds some years previously. 

Because of what Joseph has been through, he some strange idiosyncrasies.  He won’t wear anything orange, let anyone stand behind him, let anyone touch him, go into rooms that are too small, or eat canned peaches.  And one more thing--he’s a father to a baby girl who is named Jupiter, and more than anything else in the world, he wants to find her.

Joseph has to keep overcoming obstacles and fighting back but has finally reached a point where two loving adults and a boy who “has his back” believe in him and provide a nurturing environment.  Just when things start to turn the corner, Joseph has to face his past and figure out how to protect his future.

I love male protagonists, and this novel has two outstanding ones in Jack and Joseph.  Our narrator, Jack, tells the story as only a young boy could.   He and the rest of his family are accepting, loving, down-to-earth people who truly care for Joseph.  They welcome Joseph into their family with open arms and provide the kind of family life that he has always needed.  Even when situations become rough, the family continues to lift him up.

Although Joseph has had a hard life, he has a huge heart and is unusually forgiving.  He is intelligent, has a natural ability for mathematics, and is athletically inclined.  It is through Jack’s eyes that readers learn about Joseph’s past and realize that he is wise far beyond his fourteen years.

Orbiting Jupiter is not all serious. From day one, Joseph is expected to do chores around the farm just like Jack and his dad.  Joseph learns you can tell a lot about a person the way cows acts around him.  The Hurd family cows, especially Rosie, take a shine to Joseph, but he learns that milking a cow is not as easy as it looks!

Gary Schmidt has written an endearing novel about acceptance, healing, and the ability to overcome life’s obstacles.  Make sure you have a box of tissues when you read it!  Although I highly recommend it for middle school and public libraries, older readers will also enjoy it.  I give it five out of five fleur de lis!