Forever, or a Long, Long Time
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
3 starred reviews • A Kirkus Best Book of 2017 • A New York Public Library Top Ten Books for Kids pick • An ALA Notable Book • 2018 NCTE Charlotte Huck Honor Book
From rising star Caela Carter, author of My Life with the Liars and How to Be a Girl in the World, comes a captivating and heartfelt story about siblings who learn that love can never be divided, only multiplied.
Flora and her brother, Julian, don’t believe they were born. They’ve lived in so many foster homes, they can’t remember where they came from. And even now that they’ve been adopted, Flora still struggles to believe that they’ve found their forever home. Though Flora is trying her best to trust two new people, when she finds out that there will be a new baby, she’s worried that there won’t be enough love for everyone.
So along with their new mother, Flora and Julian begin a journey to go back and discover their past—for only then can they really begin to build their future.
Perfect for fans of Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me, Kathryn Erskine’s Mockingbird, and Ali Benjamin’s The Thing About Jellyfish, this powerful novel about love and family will inspire and delight readers of all ages.
What happens when discovering where you came from is the only way to build a future?
An Unbreakable Sibling Bond: Flora and her younger brother Julian are “Onlys.” They’ve always had each other, but will their powerful connection be enough to navigate a new family?An Honest Look at Foster Care: A heartfelt and sensitive portrayal of the foster system from a child’s perspective, exploring the deep-seated fears and profound hopes of children searching for stability.The Search for a Forever Home: Even after being adopted, Flora struggles to believe it’s real. When news of a new baby arrives, her quest for belonging sends her on a journey into a past she can’t remember.A Heartfelt, Emotional Story: Perfect for readers who love character-driven novels that tackle big questions about identity, trauma, and what it truly means to be a family.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This nuanced novel highlights the struggle to trust an adoptive family after a traumatic history in foster care. Even as 11-year-old narrator Flora and her younger brother settle into a comfortable life with adoptive parents, they think of themselves as the "Onlys": "Julian and me, the only steady things in the constantly shifting universe." Both siblings are dealing with the aftereffects of trauma, with Julian hoarding food and Flora struggling to pass fourth grade. The relationship between Flora and her "Person" (how she thinks of her adoptive mother) is especially compelling, and Carter (My Life with the Liars) believably illustrates that although the term "Person" sounds detached, it actually denotes a special status among Flora's many foster mothers. Flora's theories about her true origins, which appear between chapters, poignantly underscore her difficulty wrangling with a fractured history ("We came from the chaos, my brother and me. We were born out of the screams of other kids"). Carter's layered narrative which also touches on divorce, stepfamilies, and welcoming a new baby doesn't shy from pain as it testifies to resilience and the expansive power of love. Ages 8 12.
