Hugging the Rock by Susan Taylor Brown (170 pages)
This novel, told in poetic form, gives the reader a glimpse into the life of a young girl, Rachel, whose mother has abandoned her family. The novel begins with the mother packing up her car and leaving for an unknown destination, and Rachel blaming herself and her father. What Rachel doesn’t understand is that her mother is ill with bipolar disorder, which means she has serious depression one minute and then major happiness the next. Rachel definitely struggles as she tries to cope with her mother’s abandonment - she stops doing her homework, hides her mom’s whereabouts from her best friend, and is angry with her father all the time. The simple poetry makes this tough subject matter an easier one to grasp and it is written with younger teens in mind.
Miss Simer’s Rating: ***
