Return to Me

November 26, 2012
Chen (North of Beautiful) delivers an uplifting story of a teen whose sixth sense proves to be a blessing, not the curse she thinks. Recent high school graduate Reb Muir has a feeling of foreboding about her family’s decision to move from Seattle to New Jersey the summer before she is to attend Columbia University. Disaster comes in threes shortly after the move: Reb bombs an interview for an
architectural internship; her father’s affair comes to light, further upending the family; and Reb questions her long-distance relationship with her boyfriend. At loose ends, Reb, her younger brother, and their mother take refuge with Grandpa George at a Hawaiian inn he’s built. There, Reb reconnects with her passions and dreams, learns to embrace her premonitions, and formulates an exciting new plan for herself. Celebrating the healing power of positive environments (exemplified by Reb’s passion for tree houses and other special spaces that can foster healing), Chen’s novel has a soothing aura that grows stronger as family members reunite and their hopes are realized. Ages 12–up. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

December 1, 2012
A teen psychic learns to embrace her visions after her father breaks up their family. Reb is just about to start as a freshman at Columbia when her father announces that he wants a divorce. The teen believes that this must be a result of the family curse that mandates all the women on her mom's side to end up alone because of their precognitive abilities. Reb has squashed her own visions after a near-death experience as a child, but she now finds herself seeking them out as she tries to help her mom through the breakup, navigate her own relationship with a too-good-to-be-true boy and decide if she will go to college or take a gap year to follow her love of creating intimate architectural spaces. Her mother and grandmother dole out inspirational platitudes like, "Inertia. Sometimes moving is the hardest thing to do," and, "Forgiveness is a process, and sometimes it's an entire life's work." These often make this earnest and plodding character study of three generations of women trying to discover and live their passions read more like a self-help book than a novel. While this may have bibliotherapeutic value for older teens who are struggling with big life decisions, most readers in search of a good story would be better off sticking with the author's solid earlier work. Disappointing. (Paranormal fiction. 13 & up)

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March 1, 2013

Gr 9 Up-Rebecca's father has a new job in New York and with Rebecca's imminent attendance at Columbia University, her mother decides to move the entire family to New Jersey from Washington. Rebecca has an overwhelming sense of foreboding and not just because she will be leaving her boyfriend behind. Shortly after moving, her father reveals that he is having an affair and is leaving her mother. Rebecca's whole world is thrown into chaos and she is no longer sure of what she wants. As she struggles to forgive her father, she forms new relationships with her maternal grandparents, brother, and mother. She learns to embrace her intuition and be true to herself. The author sensitively writes of the heartbreak involved in a betrayal of family without skipping any of the more gritty parts. Readers will feel the characters' pain as they are carried along with the engaging plotline. The story does bog down a bit in the abundance of healing and growth metaphors, but the conclusion is particularly satisfying.-Mindy Whipple, West Jordan Library, UT

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2013
Grades 8-12 Rebecca Muir ( Rebel to her boyfriend) comes from a family of psychic women whose marriages never succeed. Reb is eager to begin studying architecture at Columbia, leaving her domineering mother behind in Washington. But troubling visions of wailing women and intense sorrow are confirmed when she learns that her beloved father is leaving the family for another woman. With the help of her devoted boyfriend, architect mentors, and her family, Rebel constructs a happy ending for herself, embracing her psychic gift and finding success as a tree house architect. Readers interested in New Age philosophy will enjoy the healing sanctuary in Hawaii; Reb's theories on colors, auras, and tree houses; and the grandmother's psychic healing tours. Despite these trappings, what drives Rebel's story is her search for a meaningful life, a theme that will resonate with most teens pondering college and beyond. The plot resolutions are a little too tidy, and characterization is sometimes scant, but as New Age comfort food, Chen's (North of Beautiful, 2009) latest work is a satisfying read about family betrayals, ties, and acceptance.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)