Unleaving

March 1, 2019

Gr 10 Up-After surviving rape, instead of beginning her sophomore year, Maggie chooses to leave her college town, the same town where she grew up. In her determined search for justice, six members of the college football team are expelled, angering fans and turning Maggie into the town pariah. Suffering from insomnia, flashbacks, and panic attacks, she hopes for refuge at her aunt's remote lakefront cabin. But she is not the only one looking for recovery. Maggie finds herself embroiled in the dysfunctional family relationships of her aunt's young assistant; his girlfriend, who is bipolar; and their five-year-old daughter, as well as the festering family secret that has kept Maggie's aunt and mother at odds for their entire adult lives. There is also the mysterious rape survivor who is trying to reach out to Maggie for help. Overwhelmed, Maggie searches in vain for escape, hiding out in her bedroom seeking elusive sleep, until she finally realizes that running away was never a viable option. Maggie's story feels diminished amid other characters' more immediate and compelling situations. While acknowledging the difficulty of surviving rape, Ostrom attempts to provide a glimmer of hope for reclaiming dignity and personal power, but readers must wade through a plethora of individual tragedies to get to that point. VERDICT There are more focused books for teens about surviving sexual assault and navigating rape culture that make for better options.-Cary Frostick, formerly at Mary Riley Styles Public Library, Falls Church, VA

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2019
Grades 9-12 Ostrom's sensitive treatment of a timely subject is a welcome addition to novels about rape and its aftermath. Nineteen-year-old Maggie leaves her college after she was gang-raped at a party, reported the crime, and was ostracized for naming popular athletes as her attackers. Her caring mother takes Maggie to the isolated country home of her sculptor aunt (her mother's somewhat estranged twin) to recover. Maggie deals with classic PTSD symptoms: flashbacks, panic and anxiety attacks, and insomnia. Then she receives an email from Jane, a student at her college, who has also survived a rape. Maggie finally decides to answer Jane's email?and then Jane withdraws. Ostrom's character development is noteworthy: from the on-target depictions of overly helpful bookstore clerks to the tension between Maggie's mother and aunt, the novel is full of people we recognize and care about. If the ending feels almost too strong and hopeful to be real, it will be a true comfort to those who have had similar experiences and need to see a way past their current pain.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)