Trail of Crumbs

January 1, 2019
Fire up your Coleman lanterns: Greta needs all the light and warmth she can get in this story of abandonment, poverty, and sexual assault.Greta and her twin, Ash, have every element of a tragic life: a very wicked stepmother, a spineless and pathetic father, and being abandoned in the middle of a brutal Edmonton winter with no heat except from an oven, no food, and no rent money. As if that wasn't enough, Greta is also suffering following a sexual assault and the subsequent ostracism and bullying by the cool kids at her high school. The cast of supporting characters in Greta's story have enough emotional issues to keep a team of psychologists working around the clock: Greta's withdrawn brother, an elderly, track-shorts-wearing landlord, his estranged tough-talking daughter, and a lonely neighbor kid. Greta longs to re-create a family that has only been a memory for years but still possesses enough grit to get some sense of closure and justice from those who harmed her. Nothing is candy-coated: The writing includes the blunt language one would expect in this treatment of the very important topics of sexual assault and victim blaming that will resonate with and inform readers. Main characters present as white, but names suggest some diversity among Greta's classmates. Lawrence (Rodent, 2016) has an admirable relationship with the written word, and after many chapters of sharp edges and dark corners, readers will discover reason for hope. (afterword) (Fiction. 14-19)

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March 1, 2019

Gr 8 Up-Fraternal twins Greta and Ash are seniors in high school when their dad and stepmom abandon them, sneaking away in the middle of the night without a note or a forwarding address. Their stepmom's increasingly belligerent behavior, coupled with their father's decreasing ability to stand up to her, makes the vanishing act an almost welcome relief. But Greta and Ash have very little cash between them and, being new to town, few contacts and no job prospects. On top of it all, Greta is dealing with a hazy memory of a drunken night at a classmate's cabin where she isn't sure if she actually consented to sex with Dylan, a popular jock from her new high school. Greta and Ash are used to sticking together, but this set of circumstances pushes the pair to their limits. With the help of a classmate, Nate, and their grieving landlord, Elgin, Greta and Ash begin to dig out from rock bottom, rebuilding a support system and finding their voices. VERDICT Fans of slow and serious emotional journeys of survival, like Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak, Sara Zarr's Story of a Girl, or Ashley Herring Blake's Girl Made of Stars, will find Greta's story especially moving.-Jennifer Miskec, Longwood University, Farmville, VA

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2019
Grades 9-12 Greta, 17, is already trying to deal with a recent trauma?date rape?on her own, when her father and stepmother abandon her and her twin brother, Ash, in their basement apartment. Now she has to deal with her troubles internally while externally trying to survive. Unexpected help arrives in the form of their elderly and eccentric landlord, Elgin; his tough-talking daughter, Alice; and Nate, a classmate who lives across the street. Greta and Ash eke out their existence and continue with school, a form of torture for Greta as she tries to avoid her former "in group" friends. Finally, the threads come together in an affirming resolution. Lawrence's novel is a subtle riff on Hansel and Gretel: abandonment by parents; hope represented by a trail of crumbs to lead her out of the labyrinth of her trauma; and the cabin where the date rape occurs is like the gingerbread house, promising on the outside but concealing a threat. With realistic and appealing characters and a delicately constructed plot, this is a well-told story of strength, grace, and growth.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)