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The Break
Watching Nonna 24/7 wouldn’t be such a big deal. We could do lots of stuff together. I just had to keep her busy.
Abby Lambert’s plans to ski with friends over spring break are ruined when her surgeon mother and stepfather announce they have to leave the country on an emergency medical mission. Instead of partying with her friends, Abby must stay home and look after her increasingly confused grandmother. At the nursing home where Nonna likes to play bingo, Abby runs into her notoriously aloof classmate, Kyle, who volunteers there. Despite his arrogance and mysterious past she finds herself drawn to him. Maybe staying home for spring break won’t be so bad — except for Nonna’s weird behaviour, which seems to be escalating.
Abby manages things pretty well … until one terrifying and desperate night, where life as she knows it changes forever.
Abby Lambert’s plans to ski with friends over spring break are ruined when her surgeon mother and stepfather announce they have to leave the country on an emergency medical mission. Instead of partying with her friends, Abby must stay home and look after her increasingly confused grandmother. At the nursing home where Nonna likes to play bingo, Abby runs into her notoriously aloof classmate, Kyle, who volunteers there. Despite his arrogance and mysterious past she finds herself drawn to him. Maybe staying home for spring break won’t be so bad — except for Nonna’s weird behaviour, which seems to be escalating.
Abby manages things pretty well … until one terrifying and desperate night, where life as she knows it changes forever.
208 pages, Unknown Binding
First published March 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 27, 2014
Abby Lambert's famous heart surgeon mom is committed to saving others. Too bad it often happens at the expense of her only daughter. Mom and her new husband are about to fly off to operate on a bunch of very ill people in Ecuador. The fact that doing so will force Abby to cancel her long planned ski trip, something she desperately needs so she can feel like a normal teen, doesn't faze Mom at all. She plays her trump card. Sure Abby can go, but if she does, it means her beloved grandmother will be permanently placed in the new nursing home where she spends part of each afternoon.
Abby caves, even though she hates herself for doing so, but Nonna, her Italian grandmother has been the only person who has consistently been there for her since her parents divorced and her father died. Determined to make the best of a lousy situation, Abby ends up taking Nonna to play bingo at the home and when she starts complaining about the lack of salt on the icy sidewalk, little does she realize that Kyle, a new classmate who recently moved here from California, is right behind her with the missing salt. Abby's opinion of him isn't very high because he seems aloof and superior to other kids at school.
Something about their interaction, starts her wondering if there isn't a different and interesting side to Kyle. When his mother, who manages the place, ropes her into helping Kyle's sister Carly into doing an aerobics class for some of the residents that quickly morphs into a geriatric cheering class, she's on a completely new and unfamiliar path, one made even trickier by her lack of adult support and guidance. Her attempts to make sense of how her life is changing are made even more difficult by her inability to accept how quickly her grandmother is sliding into dementia.
As she tries to ride herd on Nonna and navigate the uncharted waters of a budding romantic relationship, Abby has to accept that she's in way over her head. Fortunately, what she took for aloofness in Kyle is really grief and guilt that was triggered by his own father's death and how he reacted right after his dad died. When Abby's best friend comes home from the ski trip early, she creates a horrible scene at Abby's house during which Nonna disappears into a heavy snowstorm. The events following this are painful, but extremely realistic.
This is a gem of a book from a small Canadian publisher that deserves a lot of exposure. Teens who have aloof and self absorbed parents, are struggling with friendships or have a family member with dementia will find this a very gripping read.
Abby caves, even though she hates herself for doing so, but Nonna, her Italian grandmother has been the only person who has consistently been there for her since her parents divorced and her father died. Determined to make the best of a lousy situation, Abby ends up taking Nonna to play bingo at the home and when she starts complaining about the lack of salt on the icy sidewalk, little does she realize that Kyle, a new classmate who recently moved here from California, is right behind her with the missing salt. Abby's opinion of him isn't very high because he seems aloof and superior to other kids at school.
Something about their interaction, starts her wondering if there isn't a different and interesting side to Kyle. When his mother, who manages the place, ropes her into helping Kyle's sister Carly into doing an aerobics class for some of the residents that quickly morphs into a geriatric cheering class, she's on a completely new and unfamiliar path, one made even trickier by her lack of adult support and guidance. Her attempts to make sense of how her life is changing are made even more difficult by her inability to accept how quickly her grandmother is sliding into dementia.
As she tries to ride herd on Nonna and navigate the uncharted waters of a budding romantic relationship, Abby has to accept that she's in way over her head. Fortunately, what she took for aloofness in Kyle is really grief and guilt that was triggered by his own father's death and how he reacted right after his dad died. When Abby's best friend comes home from the ski trip early, she creates a horrible scene at Abby's house during which Nonna disappears into a heavy snowstorm. The events following this are painful, but extremely realistic.
This is a gem of a book from a small Canadian publisher that deserves a lot of exposure. Teens who have aloof and self absorbed parents, are struggling with friendships or have a family member with dementia will find this a very gripping read.
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December 30, 20202020 note: Review originally posted in 2014. May contain statements I no longer agree with.
(3.5 on my blog, but rounded to 4 for goodreads.)
I was surprised by this one. You guys know I'm kind of hard to please when it comes to contemporary books, but this one worked for me. A whole lot of it was very cute and in general it was solid. I liked that so much of the book focused on Abby's relationship with her grandmother, especially, but also some with her mother. The romance was cute, if not my favourite part of the book. Read the rest on my blog.
(3.5 on my blog, but rounded to 4 for goodreads.)
I was surprised by this one. You guys know I'm kind of hard to please when it comes to contemporary books, but this one worked for me. A whole lot of it was very cute and in general it was solid. I liked that so much of the book focused on Abby's relationship with her grandmother, especially, but also some with her mother. The romance was cute, if not my favourite part of the book. Read the rest on my blog.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews