My So-Called Family

Gr 5 Up–Ash has no one she can trust. In her first week of middle school she is relentlessly bullied because of her gender expression, and she knows she will find no comfort at home. Her foster placement with Gladys was tolerable before Gladys’s adult son, Jordan, moved into their tiny home along with his girlfriend and their baby. Now Ash is constantly exhausted from handling the baby’s nighttime care while the thin wall of their bedroom fails to hide the sounds of Jordan abusing his girlfriend. This is Ash’s ninth foster home in eight years and she knows that it violates rules that are designed to protect her, but she heeds Gladys’s warnings not to tell her caseworker, fearing that her next placement could be even worse. Despite other characters’ fixation on her sexuality and gender expression, this is not a coming-out story, and Ash is refreshingly unconcerned with using labels to define herself. Ash’s voice is authentic and moving, and readers will root for her as she learns who to trust when she can no longer keep herself safe from Jordan’s increasingly threatening behavior. The ending is a little too convenient, but its hopeful note is a welcome end to a harrowing read. Ash’s race is not specified. Additional characters are diverse and appropriate for the northern California setting.