I'm from Nowhere

December 14, 2015
When her journalist mother is sent overseas on assignment, 10th-grader Wren Verlaine is uprooted from her California home and shipped off to a prestigious boarding schoolâher mother's alma materâin Connecticut. Amid the culture shock at Hardwick Hall, Wren attempts to grapple with her anger at her mother's abandonment, unravel the secret of her paternity, and figure out how to fit in with a mean-girl roommate who tries to ostracize her. Wren's fish-out-of-water story is a familiar one, but while obvious clues leading to the discovery of Wren's father's identity are deployed early on, Myers (Stone Cove Island) draws out the revelation without any kind of twist that might make it worth the wait. When all is eventually unveiled, due in part to Wren's mother's serious injury in the line of duty, the blanket acceptance between father and daughter is a little too storybook-perfect to be fully realistic. Even so, Wren's efforts to find her voice as a singer/songwriter, make friends, and explore new hobbies at Hardwick Hall make for enjoyable reading. Ages 14âup.