This book is compelling, intriguing, revelatory- Jenny Valentine’s new novel will reach out and grab you by the heart.
- ISBN: 9780007229659
- Author: Valentine, Jenny
- Published: 2008 , HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks
- Themes: Death, Friendship, Loneliness, Mystery
- Descriptors: England (UK), Realistic Fiction, Young Adult (ages 14-18)
- No. of pages: 256
“Mum hated being worken up…As soon as she was awake she just wanted to go back to sleep again. I knew that we had to be patient, and I do understand that sleep was where she got to pretend her life wasn’t crap, but I also think that two live daughters might have been something to stay awake for…But after Jack died [my parents] protected themselves by refusing to love us, the kids who had dying still to do. And it fell to us to keep ourselves alive until somebody remembered we were there.”
The title of Jenny Valentine’s latest book, Broken Soup, is an apt metaphor for Rowan Clark’s life after the death of her beloved older brother, Jack. Two years after Jack’s death, Rowan is still trying to pick up and mend the pieces of her family’s life. Rowan’s mother sleeps all of the time, and her father rarely visits which leaves Rowan with the task of taking care of both her mother and her 5-year-old sister, Stroma. To make matters worse, Rowan’s normal teen-age life ceases to exist when her friends abandon her to her grown-up responsibilities.
It is under these circumstances that a mysterious young man and a beautiful older student enter Rowan’s world. What follows is a very well-written and understated story which leads to a near-tragedy and a life-affirming revelation for Rowan and her family.