Where We Used to Roam
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
“Sensitively told and heartfelt…will open up many difficult, but important conversations.” —Jasmine Warga, Newbery Honor–winning author of Other Words for Home
In this powerful middle grade novel from the acclaimed author of Things You Can’t Say, a young girl struggles to find her place while her older brother fights to overcome opioid addiction—perfect for fans of The Seventh Wish and Violets Are Blue.
When Emma starts sixth grade, things finally begin to change. She may still be in the shadow of her older brother, Austin, the popular high school quarterback, but she’s made artsy new friends who get her way more than her bookish best friend, Becca.
But things are changing for Austin, too. After undergoing surgery for a football injury, Austin has become addicted to opioid painkillers. By the end of the school year, everything blows up with Austin—and Becca. When their parents decide to send Austin to rehab and Emma to stay with family friends in Wyoming for the summer, Emma seizes the chance to get away.
Wyoming turns out to be a perfect fresh start, especially after Emma makes friends with Tyler, a kindred spirit who doesn’t judge her—then again, he doesn’t know what she did to Becca. Still, Emma can’t hide forever…or go back to the way things were with Austin or with Becca. But can she find a way to confront the truth and move forward?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Quiet, artistic sixth grader Emma O'Malley describes her beloved older brother Austin, a high school junior, as the guy "everyone paid attention to when he walked into a room." So, when Austin urges Emma—who loves creating Joseph Cornell–inspired shadow boxes after seeing them at the Art Institute—to join the art club, she agrees, despite discouragement from her best friend Becca. Soon, Emma realizes she has more in common with art club members Kennedy, who is white, and Lucy, who is Asian, than with übersmart, book-loving Becca. But then Kennedy publicly humiliates Becca, and Emma's parents reveal that Austin is addicted to opioids, which he's been prescribed for a sports injury. While Austin undergoes treatment, Emma is sent from their home in the Boston suburbs to spend the summer with family friends in Wyoming. There, Emma befriends affable, curly brown–haired Tyler, whose mom is in prison for selling narcotics, while she grapples with anger and guilt. In this transparent examination of how addiction can affect families, Bishop (Things You Can't Say) effectively showcases Emma's realistic struggle to forgive her friends, her family, and herself; her turbulent emotions make her a relatable, authentic character. Ages 8–12.
