Benjamin Ludwig

I thought this was a YA book, but it turns out it's being marketed to adults (making it a good candidate for a YALSA Alex Award). Told in the voice of 14-year-old Ginny, this has the markings of YA -- particularly the portrayal of very flawed, irritating adults treating kids unfairly. I listened to the audiobook, which made Ginny sound very young. I imagined her as much younger than 14 -- more like 11 or 12. Because of her autism and her traumatic upbringing, Ginny is naïve and literal in some ways, but also streetwise and canny in others. She is a unique and compelling character, for sure.

I was completely drawn into the story and almost ridiculously, viscerally angry at Mara, Ginny's adoptive "forever mom" who suddenly turns into a bitch after she gives birth to Ginny's new "forever sister." I hated Mara for how she treated Ginny, but I was grudgingly sympathetic, too. When you have a new baby, you get very little sleep. And no sleep can make a person terrible. On top of that, I experienced a version of what Mara went through myself. When my daughter was born, all my love for my dog Stanley seemed to evaporate and I irrationally saw him as a threat to my baby's safety and an irritating drain on my energy (which, due to lack of sleep, was already super low). He growled at my daughter a few times and I told my husband we had to find a new family for him, like now. Of course, I was overreacting because I was exhausted and paranoid. So basically I was Mara, but with a dog. Which is different.

I think this would be an excellent pick for book clubs because it raises so many questions about parenthood, adoption, abuse, caretaking, and it doesn't give any easy answers. While things seem to work out for Ginny in the end, it is not entirely comfortable and heartwarming. While I don't think she would harm anyone in her family on purpose, let's not forget Ginny was on the verge of setting the house on fire. The last lines of the book lead us to believe that Ginny will settle into her life. "I don't have to be Negative Ginny if this forever family wants me around..." But there is something a little ominous about the "if" to me. It's like Ginny will always have this potential to make dangerous decisions if she doesn't feel wanted. But isn't that true of all human beings? Don't we all carry a "negative" version of ourselves around? Don't we all have the capacity to hurt each other? And should be we be just as worried that Mara and Brian will hurt Ginny if she can't be what they want her to be? Let's not forget, even though they adopted her and called themselves her "forever parents" it felt like they were trying to get rid of her by giving her to her biological father or to an institution.… (mere)