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After his mother departs on a
six-month tour of duty, 16-year-old Leo, his father, and his younger siblings,
Jack and Reina, are left to cope.
Leo is on his way becoming an Eagle
Scout, he wants to join the Summer Youth Police Academy, and he is committed to
embodying the principles of the Scout Oath. His workaholic father, who is
hardly ever home, sees him as the reliable one and gives Leo too much
responsibility for the care of his siblings. Leo has always vowed to have Jack’s
back, but when the 13-year-old starts acting out and gets in serious trouble,
Leo finds it hard to hold up his end of the bargain. He becomes close to Zen, a
girl who belongs to their support group for families of deployed military
personnel, but that relationship is later put at risk. Leo must figure out how
to help his brother while also pursuing his own dreams. In her heartfelt debut
novel that explores the challenges facing military families left at home, Van
effectively utilizes verse to impeccably convey the feelings of sadness, anger,
displacement, and lack of belonging of young people on the brink of adulthood.
Leo’s father is a Cuban immigrant, and Zen is Korean-American; other characters
are assumed white.
Reluctant readers will enjoy
exploring Leo’s loyalty to his family and ideals, strong threads woven through
the fabric of this emotional story. (Verse
novel. 12-18)
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