Where We Used to Roam

January 15, 2021
Emma's happy life starts to fall apart when her older brother is injured and prescribed opioid painkillers. As sixth grade begins, Emma is excited to make new friends that really get her. While she navigates the pitfalls of new and old friendships, she also finds out that her brother, Austin, is addicted to opioids. Bishop combines a coming-of-age story with an issue story, creating a novel that teaches lessons without being preachy and honestly depicts the confusion, fear, and anger that arise when a sibling struggles with substance abuse. This book contains valuable lessons about both friendship and drug addiction, but they could bear to be stated more plainly. Much of Emma's emotional growth is shown and not told, with the result that her later understanding, for example of her brother's struggle, is not stated as clearly as her earlier feelings that he selfishly did not care about his family. While this may make the book more readable, depending on readers' maturity and awareness, they may benefit from further discussing the issues with teachers or guardians. Though the story ends on a positive note, there is no unrealistically neat happy ending. The author instead offers a brief and engaging introduction to the disease model of addiction and the benefits of medication-assisted treatment. Main characters are cued as White. An enjoyable book that is a starting point for young readers to understand the opioid crisis. (Fiction. 10-13)

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 26, 2021

Gr 5-7-Emma, who lives in a Boston suburb with loving parents and her adored older brother Austin, is having a turbulent first year in middle school. She meets Kennedy and Lucy, fellow artists who have more in common with her than her oldest friend, Becca. Emma feels torn between these friendships and dismayed by her instinct to mock Becca to her new friends. Emma then learns that Austin has become addicted to opioids after surgery for a sports injury. Written in unadorned, straightforward prose, this is a sensitive and gentle portrayal of opioid addiction that focuses on Emma's rather than Austin's experience but stays true to hard realities: Austin overdoses (and survives) just as he is finishing rehab. Emma finds comfort in shared experience when she makes another new friend, Tyler, whose mother is incarcerated for drug dealing. Emma and her family are cued as white, as are the majority of characters. Becca is Jewish; a teacher has a South Asian last name; Kennedy has two moms; and Tyler is gay. When Tyler admits to a crush on a boy Emma reacts as a friend would, encouraging Tyler to approach him. This earnest and respectful attention to the joys and complications of friendships in middle school balances the story's harsher realities and, in the end, underlines the story's message that finding and maintaining solid friendships is an essential life skill. VERDICT This sensitive portrayal of drug addiction's effect on family members also pays significant attention to broader issues such as the growing pains of forming identities and forging new friendships in middle school; should appeal to a wide audience.-Lisa Goldstein, Brooklyn P.L.

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.