If This Is Home

Scarrow, Kristine. If This Is Home. 2017. 184p. ISBN 978-1459736504. Available as an eBook from Overdrive.

Jayce’s single mother struggles to feed and house her two daughters, working two jobs and still barely getting by. Jayce’s father is a musician in a band on a perpetual tour. In the past, he would visit them infrequently, but never supported them financially. They have not heard any news or visits from him in four years, ever since Joelle’s birth. Now 16, Jayce comes home to find her mother being taken away in an ambulance. She had been sick for months, and the diagnostic is stage 4 cancer. Jayce had already been caring for Joelle while keeping up with her studies. Thankfully Kurt is there to help. Going through a similar process with his own grandmother, Kurt understands what she’s living through. Now it’s up to her to find her father so he will accept responsibility for them before her mother dies.

Dealing with the too-real situation of a teenager about to lose her only parent, Scarrow deftly illustrates the rawness of Jayce’s feelings and foreboding as her life careens towards disaster. Jayce and Kurt’s relationship is more support group than romance though there is a hint that something could eventually blossom. Main and supporting characters are well-defined and feature realistic emotions. The structure of the story ensures that this novel is a page turner. Both the father and the grandmother are unsympathetic in the decisions they made, but are able to redeem themselves. The ending is perfect for the book, leaving everything uncertain but with hope on the horizon. Readers of all stripes, including reluctant readers, will appreciate this story of resilience and healing in the face of a tragedy.