Right Where You Left Me

July 24, 2017
Seventeen-year-old Lottie Lang has always felt that her globetrotting, disaster-chasing journalist father, Jeremiah, is the glue keeping her family together. Her mother, Valentina, never seemed to recover from the death of her first child, Lena, at 11 months, or from the stroke she had while giving birth to Lottie. When Jeremiah is kidnapped by extremists in Ukraine, Lottie believes that she may lose her mother to depression. Devlin (Tell Me Something Real) relies heavily on Russian folklore to give Lottie an uncommonly mature perspective (“She worries I was born with a curse, that I was born a potercha, the troubled spirit of a dead child.... I wonder if she’s Umershey Materi. The Dead Mother”). Jeremiah’s kidnapping is the catalyst that allows Lottie and her mother to finally have a frank conversation about their relationship: Lottie spent her childhood believing she was a consolation prize for Lena, while Valentina tried desperately not to hold her child too close. Though the initial setup is fraught with potential problems, Devlin carefully orchestrates the plot so the pieces fall together almost too perfectly. Ages 14–up. Agent: Faye Bender, Book Group

June 15, 2017
A white California teenager must grapple with the unknown after her father goes missing while on assignment in Ukraine. Seventeen-year-old Charlotte is used to her journalist dad's traveling to faraway places to cover the aftermath of natural disasters. His latest assignment takes him to Ukraine to cover the aftermath of a major earthquake; when an aftershock causes an explosion in the region where he was working, Charlotte and her mother receive news that he has gone missing. The plot thickens further when the FBI comes knocking to reveal that her father was kidnapped by a rebel group demanding a ransom for his release. Charlotte's feelings of helplessness and anxiety over the situation are compounded by her tenuous relationship with her Russian-immigrant mother, whose distance and reserve are the results of old traumas. Charlotte copes by weaving tales from Russian folklore throughout her story as a way of coming to terms with her own personal struggles. When her frustration with the FBI's lack of progress reaches a breaking point, she relies on her friends to help her take matters in her own hands. Devlin's prose is uneven in this outing, lyrical at the start but growing staccato along the way; it loses steam at the end as it drifts toward a neat and anticlimactic conclusion. Russian dialogue is sprinkled throughout, though those familiar with the language are likely to find it unconvincing. An exploration of Russian folklore as metaphor adds an intriguing element to an otherwise lackluster story. (Fiction. 14-18)

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August 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-Where other people flee the death and destruction of a natural disaster, Charlotte's dad packs his bags to head toward the epicenter of the crisis. Her father is a journalist who covers the world's worst catastrophes. He is also the glue that holds their small family together. Whenever he leaves for an assignment, the distance between Charlotte and her stoic Russian mother becomes an uncrossable chasm. During these absences, the teen depends on her friendships to help distract and comfort her. When Charlotte's father disappears while covering an earthquake in Ukraine, Charlotte and her mother are forced to break down their emotional walls in order to cope with the possibility of losing the person they both love. Devlin writes a compelling story filled with complex characters. Russian folklore is sprinkled throughout, adding another layer of depth to an already engrossing story. The highly descriptive passages and adept use of imagery will leave readers feeling as though they are walking the colorful San Francisco streets and tasting the delicious Russian pastries cooked in Charlotte's mother's bakery. While the ending is a little too neatly pulled together, this is a well written novel overall that older teens are sure to enjoy. Mentions of sex, underage drinking, and marijuana use make this more appropriate for mature readers. VERDICT Purchase this great coming-of-age story where Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn, or Thanks for the Trouble by Tommy Wallach are popular.-Ellen Fitzgerald, Naperville Public Library, IL

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2017
Grades 9-12 Devlin, a finalist for the William C. Morris Award, enters ripped-from-the-headlines territory in her sophomore novel. High-school senior Charlotte has always had a closer relationship with her father, a reporter for the San Francisco Tribune, than her Russian immigrant mother. Mom has kept her at a distance, Charlotte believes, because she's still grieving Charlotte's older sister, who died as a baby. Rightfully worried when her father goes missing in the aftermath of an earthquake in Ukraine, Charlotte is terrified to learn that he's actually been captured by rebels and is being held hostage. A photojournalist for her school's paper, she's always dreamed of following in his footsteps, but now? All she wants is him home safe, and she's willing to do whatever it takes. Devlin beautifully weaves in Russian folktales, illuminating Charlotte's complex feelings about her mother. Though the pacing sometimes struggles with external actions driving the plot more than Charlotte herself, it's these moving moments of a mother and daughter finally bridging the gap that make the novel shine. A thought-provoking examination of familial love.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)