Returnable Girl
Now thirteen years old, Ronnie has been "returned" from multiple foster homes because of her impulsive lying and stealing. Her latest foster mom, Alison, is Ronnie’s very last chance—if she doesn’t want to end up in some awful residential treatment center.
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After years of deceptive, impulsive behavior, 13-year old Ronnie must choose between returning to the mother who abandoned her or accepting her foster mother as her true mother.VOYAThirteen-year-old Veronica Hartman has lost count of the number of foster homes in which she has lived since her mother abandoned her at age six. Now placed with therapist Allison, who wants to adopt her, Ronnie secretly believes that her mother will overcome her drug and alcohol addiction and send for her. She expects that she and her younger brothers, still living with her mother in Alaska, will be a family again. Ronnie befriends Cat, an unattractive, troubled girl ostracized by other teens at their middle school. Soon beautiful, popular, and selfish Paige shows interest in Ronnie, but entrance into Paige's clique means that Ronnie must abandon Cat. As Ronnie advances socially, Cat, in an attempt to steal Paige's boyfriend, declines into promiscuity. Meanwhile as Allison proceeds with the adoption, Ronnie's mother sends a letter saying that she is about to be released from a halfway house and wants Ronnie back. Ronnie, riding several emotional roller coasters at once, tries hard to find her place. Lowell, a clinical social worker specializing in work with teenage girls, offers a debut novel that rings true. Anger, grief, confusion, rebellion, and finally resolution, acceptance, and love are clearly portrayed in the character of Ronnie as she matures. With its clear, direct language and an appealing heroine, the book is likely to draw a wide range of teen readers, especially girls.
\ Children's Literature - Denise Daley\ Adolescence is a tough stage for most kids. There is the desire to "fit in" and to be like the other kids, no matter the cost. Having been abandoned by her mother as a young child, fifteen-year-old Ronnie knows about that better than most. She so desperately desires to belong somewhere that she turns against a true friend in order to click with a group of popular girls. She does this despite her better judgment and is witness to the sad results. To further complicate things, Ronnie's fear of abandonment is preventing her from embracing what may be her last chance for a healthy permanent relationship with a foster parent. Ronnie's character is so real that readers will root for her and hope that she makes the right choices. Her circumstances may have been beyond her control, but she learns that faith in humanity can have a positive influence on the future. This book deals with a variety of sensitive issues that many teenage readers will identify with. It is engaging, upsetting, and uplifting, all at the same time.\ \ \ \ \ VOYA - Laura Woodruff\ Thirteen-year-old Veronica Hartman has lost count of the number of foster homes in which she has lived since her mother abandoned her at age six. Now placed with therapist Allison, who wants to adopt her, Ronnie secretly believes that her mother will overcome her drug and alcohol addiction and send for her. She expects that she and her younger brothers, still living with her mother in Alaska, will be a family again. Ronnie befriends Cat, an unattractive, troubled girl ostracized by other teens at their middle school. Soon beautiful, popular, and selfish Paige shows interest in Ronnie, but entrance into Paige's clique means that Ronnie must abandon Cat. As Ronnie advances socially, Cat, in an attempt to steal Paige's boyfriend, declines into promiscuity. Meanwhile as Allison proceeds with the adoption, Ronnie's mother sends a letter saying that she is about to be released from a halfway house and wants Ronnie back. Ronnie, riding several emotional roller coasters at once, tries hard to find her place. Lowell, a clinical social worker specializing in work with teenage girls, offers a debut novel that rings true. Anger, grief, confusion, rebellion, and finally resolution, acceptance, and love are clearly portrayed in the character of Ronnie as she matures. With its clear, direct language and an appealing heroine, the book is likely to draw a wide range of teen readers, especially girls.\ \ \ School Library JournalGr 8 Up-Veronica Hautman is 13 and unsettled. Since her mother left two years ago, she has been in a succession of foster families, including an uncle and a religious but selfish aunt. Now she is living with a new foster mother, a child psychologist who is willing to tackle Ronnie's lying, stealing, and violent outbursts. Through diary entries, the girl relates her conflicted feelings toward, and sporadic long-distance interactions with, her mother; her growing love for and desire to "be good" for the first authority figure to care for her; and a complex peer environment. By creating a truly believable teenage narrative voice and a fully realized cast of characters, Lowell offers an engrossing, well-plotted, and impressive read. Each character, from Ronnie's depressed and self-destructive neighbor to the motorcycle-riding youth minister, struggles with very human challenges and plays a meaningful role in the girl's growth. Difficult issues-betrayal, depression, emotional abuse-are handled without melodrama or sensationalism. Ultimately, the novel celebrates the resilience of both teens and adults, the bonds formed in healing, and the journeys taken in finding and following one's heart. Readers will feel they have traveled the physical and emotional distance with Ronnie, and will find comfort and hope in the story's resolution.-Riva Pollard, The Winsor School Library, Boston Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ Kirkus ReviewsA convincing portrait of a troubled 13-year-old girl lifts this above the level of mere entertainment. Ronnie's drug-addicted and alcoholic mom abandoned her at age 11, and Ronnie has been kicked out of numerous foster homes ever since. She's found a good home with her latest foster mom who wants to adopt her, but Ronnie can't let go of her dream of reuniting with her real mother. Ronnie acts out violently, steals and lies, but worries that she's abandoning an equally troubled friend as she strives for acceptance with the "in" crowd at her middle school. As a family therapist, Lowell knows something about unhappy adolescents. Her expertise allows her to depict not only Ronnie's growing understanding of her situation and those of her friends, but also the reality of her life, all through Ronnie's eyes. Readable and enlightening for girls and their parents. (Fiction. YA)\ \
