The Way Back from Broken (Fiction - Young Adult) - Hardcover

Keyser, Amber J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1467775908 ISBN 13: 9781467775908

Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab, 2015

Synopsis

Rakmen Cannon's life is turning out to be one sucker punch after another. His baby sister died in his arms, his parents are on the verge of divorce, and he's flunking out of high school. The only place he fits in is with the other art therapy kids stuck in the basement of Promise House, otherwise known as support group central. Not that he wants to be there. Talking doesn't bring back the dead.

When he's shipped off to the Canadian wilderness with ten-year-old Jacey, another member of the support group, and her mom, his summer goes from bad to worse. He can't imagine how eight weeks of canoeing and camping could be anything but awful.

Yet despite his expectations, the vast and unforgiving backcountry just might give Rakmen a chance to find the way back from broken . . . if he's brave enough to grab it.

Amber J. Keyser's debut novel is a wrenching and brutally honest story of adversity and hope.

About this title

About the Author

Amber J. Keyser is a former ballerina and evolutionary biologist with a master's degree in zoology and a doctorate in genetics. As a research scientist, she studied evolution in western bluebirds, blue grosbeaks, marine copepods, and fruit flies and published extensively in the scientific literature. Now she writes both fiction and nonfiction for young adult readers. The Way Back from Broken is her first novel.

Reviews

Gr 9 Up—Rare in its honesty, this novel tells a poignant story of loss, grief, and recovery. Fifteen-year-old Rakmen's infant sister dies in his arms, and his family unravels. He accompanies his mother to a support group, where he encounters his unstable teacher, Leah, who's grieving the loss of her stillborn son, and her young daughter, Jacey. The little girl clings to Rakmen for protection from her mother's bizarre behavior. The problem: so soon after the death of his own baby sister, Rakmen is not emotionally ready or willing to act as a big brother to the young girl. Summer approaches, and Rakmen's parents, ignoring his protestations, send him off to spend several weeks at Leah's slovenly Canadian lake cabin. Yet his parents underestimate Leah's grief. Is he supposed to babysit Jacey, his teacher, or both? "It's too heavy for me," says Rakmen, not only referring to the canoe he carries by the lake. The trio go au large—into the wilderness, the unknown—for three weeks of hiking, canoeing, and sleeping in tents. Despite the familiar themes of "man vs. nature" and "man finds himself," Keyser spares readers clichés. The characters raise questions to which there are no easy answers, or no pleasant ones, and Keyser wisely allows that. Rakmen learns that life can be excruciating as well as hopeful, and readers will be pleased when his story ends on an optimistic note. This debut novel works on many levels: it presents well-developed characters, a solid story arc, and scenes of rugged survivalism. VERDICT A subtly touching tale of liberation from grief that, with its sincere existential questioning, will stay with readers and may leave teens feeling the urge to go au large themselves.—Laura Falli, McNeil High School, Austin, TX

Edition details

• Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1467775908
• ISBN 13: 9781467775908
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 207