Tell Me Something Real

August 22, 2016
In a story of betrayal and unsettling change, set in the 1970s, debut novelist Devlin introduces Vanessa, a middle child who feels as though her sisters outshine her and whose mother is dying of cancer. Vanessa and her sisters regularly travel back and forth from their home in San Diego to Mexico with their mother as she undergoes experimental cancer treatments involving Laetrile, a controversial cyanogenic drug illegal in the U.S. Soon, Vanessa's mother invites Caleb, a teenage boy with lymphoma, and his mother to move into the family's home, joining them in the commute for Laetrile. Writing through Vanessa's intimate and perceptive perspective, Devlin unspools the teenager's story languidly as she copes with loss, new love, and the ways her family is falling apart, especially after disturbing revelations about her mother's condition come to light. It's transporting reading, with a powerfully evoked 1970s setting, and readers will eagerly sink into Devlin's richly detailed writing, accompanying Vanessa on a journey marked by moments of deep connection and equally profound pain. Ages 14âup. Agent: Faye Bender, the Book Group.

Starred review from June 15, 2016
It's the summer of 1976, and the Babcock sisters are preparing to say goodbye to their terminally ill mother.There's musically gifted 16-year-old Vanessa, narrator and middle sister; foulmouthed artist Adrienne; and 9-year-old, saint-obsessed Marie. The white girls spend most of their days at a Mexican clinic where their mother receives infusions of Laetrile--a cyanide-based cancer treatment banned in the States. Their father's domineering boss keeps him working long hours, leaving the girls to take care of their mother and one another. Caleb, a clinic patient and also white, brings some light into Vanessa's life when he and his mother, Barb, move into the Babcock's San Diego home while Caleb undergoes treatment. Then the metaphorical bomb drops: Mom's diagnosis is more complicated than the girls had thought. Vanessa's present-tense narration allows her sisters, their father (finally taking a leave of absence), and Caleb and Barb to communicate their feelings through both their conversations with Vanessa and her observations of their actions. It's rare to find such a large group of characters who are so well-developed as to be almost real, and the prose is eloquent and precise, every word chosen with care. Not just another addition to the "sick-lit" genre, this debut is hands-down one of a kind. (Historical fiction. 13-18)

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August 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-The year is 1976, and the Babcock sisters, Adrienne, Vanessa, and Marie, are dealing with the rapidly approaching death of their mother. Their world revolves around their mother's care and her illness. The sisters have put their own lives on hold while they care for her-cleaning the house, feeding her, giving her the necessary medications, and dealing with their mother's increasingly disruptive mood swings. They spend several days each month in a Mexican clinic where their mother receives a controversial treatment that is banned in the United States. Just when things can't seem to get any worse, their mother announces that her disease is terminal, sending the family into a spiral of grief, anger, and, for some, shameful relief. Slowly the girls start to realize that not everything about their mother's illness adds up and that cancer may not be the worst thing that could befall their family. This is an intense read that explores the way illness can seep into the lives of everyone it touches, leaving behind confusion, fear, and anger, and a thoroughly engrossing story that will keep readers reevaluating everything they thought they knew about the Babcock family. VERDICT An intriguing tale of illness, love, loss, and betrayal that is sure to reel in teens looking for something with a little bit of darkness hidden in the pages.-Annalise Ammer, Henrietta Public Library, NY

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