Rowan's world is turned upside down when her brother Jack dies suddenly. Once a pretty normal family of five, now living in a world of dysfunction.
Rowan's parents cannot accept the loss of their oldest child. They split up and her mom slips into a deep depression. Now that her dad isn't around all the time, it is up to Rowan to raise her little sister Stroma and be the adult in the house. She is ok with all the responsibility because she doesn't want her dad or anyone else to find out the truth.
Everything changes when she encounters a boy at the store. He gives her something that will change her life forever. S he also meets an older girl at school who shares a secret regarding the item she received.
Eventually everything comes crashing down. Rowan's mom takes a turn for the worse and many secrets are revealed. Rowan is forced to face the fact that the truth will set her free.
The end brings new life and new hope for the future. New friendships, blessings and joys Rowan never expected.
Broken Soup is a story about courage, strength, responsibility, and maturity. It is a wonderful book for young adults to read. There are tough issues to deal with but they are handled in a very appropriate manner. I would highly recommend Broken Soup.
6 comments:
Donna,
I like that this book deals with the loss of a sibling as well as divorce or parents separating. I believe these topics can be explored safely in the classroom. Divorce is an issue that affects so many children and its nice to see a book that includes it. However, I do wonder how big a role the divorce plays.
OOO...I'm dying to know the sevret! Good review. Sounds like this book was interesting. How did the author handle the subject well? Was it a hard task to do you think? I just ask cause I do not know about the secret...
Death seems to be a popular topic for YAL writers. LFA, Chinese Handcuffs etc. Maybe this is becuase it entices such strong emotions in readers...
A lot of teens become responsible for raising their younger sibling when the family begins to face large issues. There are a lot of teenagers that will be able to relate to the level of responsibility that Rowan now has, and how it interferes with her regular teenage life.
I'm also super pumped about the secret now, what could it be?????
Like others mentioned, this book sounds really good! This issues faced in this book seem to be very realistic. Without proper guidance on how to handle devastating situations, children could potentially be troubled for life. Anytime one loses a family member or parents split up, it is never easy. Yet today, the divorce rate is over 50 percent. It may seem to be a "common" thing, yet when it's happening to you, it's a different ball game. Courage, strength, responsibility and maturity are all imperative life lessons and I think that sometimes it's good for students to learn about these things from others in addition to just their parents. I'm definitely adding this book to my "to read" list.
Just a question I had about YAL books, all the reviews I have seen and the books I have read have very interesting character names. Any reason on this, does it help show kids that every one is unique and different, or do the authors just do it to do it?
Post a Comment