Starred review from July 1, 2024
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Hannah is a high-school junior, raised by her father since her mother's death 13 years ago. She's accustomed to hearing bad news concerning Pauline, her wayward older sister. But her life changes when her dad tells her that Pauline was found passed out in a snow drift and was taken to the hospital, triggering a visit to her apartment by caseworkers--who found Pauline's two sons unsupervised and without food or electricity. Hannah's dad offers to take the boys in. Hannah has doubts but agrees to help out, and, as time passes, she begins to care about her nephews. While making plans for college, she comes to see Richard, a classmate, as the person she can always rely on to listen, advise, and help her. With her dad's health suddenly declining, Hannah questions her assumptions and decides what really matters most to her. Moldover, a clinical psychologist and the author of Every Moment After (2019), creates a number of quirky yet believable characters for this compelling narrative. In an appended note, he comments on the child welfare system in the U.S. and provides some disturbing facts and statistics about the system, as well as expressing appreciation for the many good people working in the field to improve the lives of vulnerable young people.
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August 19, 2024
Ever since her mother died when she was four, high school junior Hannah Lynn has acted as the responsible adult in her household: her hardworking father is
loving but clueless about the home’s daily goings-on, and her much older sister Pauline struggles with substance dependency. Taciturn Hannah plans to escape her judgmental small Maine town by attending her mother’s alma mater, Tufts, a secret known only by her crush and chemistry tutor, Richard. After Pauline loses custody of her two sons, Hannah’s dad agrees to take them in, swearing to Hannah that the arrangement will last “just until” Pauline’s life stabilizes. Hannah grudgingly accepts the major burden of the work helping the traumatized 13- and nine-year-old navigate issues such as night
terrors and food hoarding. And then, when Hannah’s hoped-for future seems within her grasp, her father’s health begins to deteriorate. Moldover (Every Moment After) employs sensitivity and nuance to depict Hannah’s determination to secure financial stability and do right by her nephews and herself. Her evolution from reticence to fierce advocate radiates with heart. The cast is white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Adam Schear, DeFiore & Co.
September 1, 2024
A teen becomes a reluctant caretaker for her nephews in this contemporary novel set in the fictional moneyed town of Evans Beach, near Portland, Maine. Seventeen-year-old Hannah Lynn has lived with her absent-minded but loving dad, an employee of the public works department, as her sole parent since her mother died when she was 4. Self-reliant and smart, Hannah plans to get out of Evans Beach once she graduates. She's eager to leave the snobby town behind for good. When her dad agrees to a kinship placement for his grandsons--Henry, 13, and Simon, 9--after Hannah's troubled older sister, Pauline, has them removed from her care, she finds herself pulled into more involvement with them than she intended. Hannah and her father's warm, imperfect relationship and the realistic, sometimes intense portrayal of her nephews' struggles permeate this nuanced story. The details about the complicated child welfare system are spot-on, and a sweet romance between Hannah and her quirky, kind classmate Richard Greene will pull readers in. If the dialogue feels a little too clever and snappy in moments of stress, it's also often very funny and balances this earnest, heart-wrenching story. Major characters read white. An honest, moving portrayal of a family finding their way through life's challenging moments. (author's note)(Fiction. 13-18)
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