The Survival Kit

August 29, 2011
Freitas (The Gorgeous Game), a PW contributor, delves into the heart and mind of a grieving teen in this insightful story of recovery. After 16-year-old Rose loses her mother to cancer, her interests in cheerleading, football games, and her quarterback boyfriend diminish. Then she discovers the survival kit her mother created for her, a paper bag filled with symbolic items—a photograph of peonies, an iPod, a box of crayons, and more. As Rose learns the meaning behind the objects, she cautiously begins to reach beyond her grief to once again appreciate life. The process is both painful and rewarding, but she makes a significant step forward by bonding with Will, a hockey star who has also dealt with a parent’s death. Those who have lost a loved one will recognize a part of themselves in Rose and appreciate her quest to find the inner strength to reconfigure the shattered pieces of her life. Even though readers never meet Rose’s mother, they will come to know how special she was through the treasures she left behind and her enormous impact on her family. Ages 12–up.

September 1, 2011

A story of struggle in which 16-year-old Rose fights to bloom again after her mother's death from cancer.

When Rose's mother died, Rose felt as if her life had stopped. She no longer has any interest in her friends, cheerleading or her quarterback boyfriend, Chris. Despite her best efforts she cannot seem to hold onto what is left of her family as alcoholism threatens to destroy her home life. But her mom did not leave Rose without any help. On the day of her mom's funeral, Rose finds a "survival kit" left by her mother, which contains what seems to be a hodgepodge of cryptic items, such as an iPod filled with meaningful songs, a photo of peonies and a miniature crystal heart. All were carefully chosen to help Rose overcome her grief and move on to adulthood. As Rose slowly decodes the survival kit's contents, she finds that each item plays a creative role in helping her deal with her loss, including connecting her with Will, a classmate who has also lost a parent but whom she never took the time to notice. Freitas also gives Rose the redoubtable Grandma Madison, who provides some appealingly crusty support of her own. Flashbacks of Rose's mother's illness punctuate her first-person account of her slow healing.

Although somewhat predictable, Rose's cathartic interactions with her survival kit provide a creative way to show that mother always does know best. (Fiction. 12 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

November 1, 2011

Gr 8 Up-Rose's mother died in June, and now, as she starts her junior year, she wonders how she will get through each day. She can't bear to listen to music, she's dropped out of cheerleading, and watching her boyfriend on the football field brings back only sad memories. Her father has turned to alcohol, and her brother is away at college. Still, she does have her best friend, Krupa, the encouragement of her friends from cheerleading, and the seemingly unremarkable, yet poignant treasures left by her mother in Rose's Survival Kit. This story takes some familiar turns: Rose's boyfriend won't or can't wait for her to grieve, the quiet boy she overlooks turns out to have still waters running deep, a relative blows into town with a lot of bluster but turns out to have a caring heart. After a winter of watching hockey, dealing with the snow, and trying to keep her father sober, romance blossoms amid the tragedy as Rose uses the tools in the Survival Kit, support from her family and friends, and the passage of time to make her way forward with a lighter heart and the sense that joy and happiness can again be a part of her life. Suggest this one to students weary of werewolves and looking for a heartfelt (though a bit predictable) story of loss and love.-Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2011
Grades 7-10 Love and death are always a potent mix, and in the hands of a talented writer like Freitas, this is especially so. Rose has been frozen since her mother died several months earlier. Her boyfriend has tried to be patient, but Rose won't go to his football games, has little to say, and certainly doesn't want to make out. The inevitable breakup leaves Rose time to ponder the survival kit her mother has left her. The first thing Rose removes from the brown paper sack is a photo of peonies, and they lead her to Will, their young gardener, who helps her plant them. A fellow student and a hockey player, Will is dealing with the loss of his father. The teens' pain binds them and then pushes them away from each other, but Rose finds strength as her mother's last gift shows her how to survive. Beyond the romance, there are the oh-so-accurate descriptions of what it feels like when a family falls apart and the baby steps each member must take before beginning to feel whole.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)