Pages: 240
Source:  Won a copy
from LibraryThing, the review is my own opinion of the book
Gere:  Young Adult,
Realistic Fiction
Every now and then I read a book that just tears my heart
open.  As a teacher I have had students
who were abused or were homeless.  It
seems to be a problem that is growing daily. 
Darlene Ryan has crafted a story that we could watch on the news any
night. Maddie comes from an abusive home. 
Her step-dad is the abuser and her mother sides with him.  I really disliked the mother for this reason.
Maddie decides it would be better if she ran away.  Out on the street she meets a boy named
Q.  She agrees that they stand a better
chance of surviving on the street if they work together.  Things are hard but manageable at first.  One day they agree to watch a homeless
couple’s six year old boy.  Unfortunately
the parents never come back for him.  I
was so angry.  I kept wondering how they
could just desert him.  Now Maddie has to
try to make them all a family.  She wants
to make sure that Dylan doesn’t have the kind of parents she had.  Q starts to have some issues that break the
trust that Maddie placed in him.  She
finally realizes she can’t do this on her own. 
This is a hard story to read yet once started it is hard to put down.
Your heart breaks for all of the kids out there like Maddie.  This is definitely a book that I want on my
shelves in my classroom.

No comments:
Post a Comment