In the Space Left Behind

by Joan Ackermann

When Colm Drucker's mother heads out to Las Vegas for her third honeymoon, Colm has plans of his own—organizing his baseball cards, playing guitar, and remodeling the family house as a surprise wedding present. But from the start of his week home alone, Colm, practical and adept, is faced with a series of unforeseen and bewildering events: His dog, Chester, meets an untimely death. His long-absent father calls out of the blue with a bizarre proposition. The beautiful Melanie Phelps kisses him suddenly and inexplicably outside the supermarket. When Colm learns that his mother plans to put the family home he dearly loves up for sale, he resolves to do everything in his power to save it, even if it means traveling across the country with the one person Colm never wanted to depend on for anything.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary, Teen

394 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2007

About the author

Joan Ackermann is a playwright, journalist, and screenwriter. Over a dozen of her plays have been published and produced around the country, and her adaptation of her play Off the Map was released as a feature film directed by Campbell Scott. Joan is the cofounder and Artistic Director of Mixed Company, a twenty-five-year-old theater in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. A Special Contributor to Sports Illustrated for seven years, she has freelanced for many magazines, including Time, The Atlantic Monthly, and Esquire. She lives in the Berkshires, where she enjoys being a part-time hiking guide.

Reviews

[emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

people say they judge books by their covers, but i was out here living the lifestyle (getting 100% of my reading material from whatever had the brightest cover in the YA section of my childhood library)

anyway it rarely worked out well for me. but i remember how bored i got with this even 7 years later, which is kind of a win in a way.

part of a series i'm doing in which i review books i read a long time ago

[Carmen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting book. A very serious boy of 15 who knows how to fix everything is dumb about a lot of stuff. His biological father seeks him out after abandoning him 14 years ago. They go on a roadtrip together and the boy, Colm, remains angry at his dad throughout the book, which I found realistic. This is not sappy. Also, it seems to me that Colm is emotionally stunted.

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides]

The main character kept making me think "Teenagers don't talk/think/act like that!" Even teenagers whose parents are feckless or absent and so they have to take care of things on their own ... it required me to suspend too much disbelief.

[Savannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Review: 3.8/5 stars
I flew through this at first. Road trip books can drag on forever, but the writing style was very enjoyable. I slowed at the end because I wasn't getting many concrete answers. I know that life doesn't have many of those, so while it was realistic, the ending was not as satisfying as I wish it could have been. I also feel that it could have done better if it was written in first person. While third person omnipotent is good in some situations, Colm's characterization, especially towards the ending. It is a story that will stick with me a very long time, and I may read again to dissect more thoroughly.

[Conner · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book a boy named Colm Drucker who can do everything from build a dryer room to bury his dog alone. His dad who abandoned him while he was one year old drags him on a road trip to throw his dads ashes into the grand canyon.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very well written with a plot that both teens and adults would find interesting. It is straightforward in a lot of ways, but actually runs much deeper. All through life everyone has “spaces left behind”. Colm is a 15 year old boy who is more adult than child. The space left behind when his father left the family, the children still very young, has produced in Colm a sense of responsibility far beyond his years. He is filled with disgust and anger from the many stories he has grown up with regarding his father, and yet he is a compassionate and caring young person with everyone else he comes into contact with. The second space comes when he loses his long-time companion, Chester, his dog, on the day that his mother and new husband leave for their honeymoon in Las Vegas, taking his little sister with them. Left to himself in the empty house his great-grandfather had built, he puts his high intelligence into play, remodelling the plumbing and the laundry room. The book is aptly named because with all the spaces left behind in his life, Colm is exceptionally close to his “family” but totally separated from his father. When his mother speaks of selling the house and all of them moving to Nevada, it is one strike too many.

An accident to an elderly neighbour brings Colm suddenly into a strange reunion with his father at a very vulnerable time. He neither trusts him nor wants anything to do with him. But circumstances intervene and he finds himself on a road trip across the country with his father. Between their opposite personalities, there is very little communication. Colm spends most of his time withdrawn into his own thoughts. There are some funny episodes along the way and it appears that nothing is the way it is perceived to be when they reach their destination. I enjoyed the book, it was different, engaging, and has something important to say.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent guy book. It needed a little more detail in the beginning and little more of the main character's delving into his thoughts. He encounters quite a few life-changing events in the space of a couple of weeks, and we don't see quite enough of the effects of those events on him. Nice control of the point of view, though, and a gentle treatment of a kid who's different from the rest of the boys on his street. For a change, the different kid isn't being bullied: he just lives his life as best he can, mostly by himself.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

It all starts when the flower box gives way and falls on Chester, Colm's beloved dog and kills him. No one else knows, since his mother just got married again and is in Las Vegas with her new husband and 1 yr old sister Bunny. All of sudden Colm notices a stranger around town and then he gets contacted by his father who disappeared when he was 1. This is the set up for a unexpected adventure for Colm and a reluctant reunion with his father. Great

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a perfect summer read... full of grasping characters that keep you wanting more. The story line is very relatable, yet full of surprises. It was beautifully written and wonderful. I loved how the author kept the book exciting yet calm, which in my mind is perfect for summer. The ending was so good that I think I read at double my normal rate. A must-read!

[Haley]

im on page 129 and I have yet to see any emotion displayed in the main character. its slow, and spends way too much time on little details. And Colm, the main character was just so unbelievable. I don't care how mature you are, 15 year-olds DONT DO THAT. they don't talk like that. They're not that, how do I put it, BORING. Sorry, I just don't like it so far. I'll tell you how I feel at the end.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had an interesting voice and a unique style. It was a very dreamy read. I felt like I was watching a film through a cheesecloth filter. The characters were compelling and the plot was revealed gradually, but not so slow as to be annoying.

[Joey · Rating 2 out of 5]

i just got this book from schulers and i didn't think that it would be much good. but so far it is interesting. it's not really the writing style that i normally read but its good. ill write a better review when i finish it.

[Beckett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the main character. I would have liked the author to go a little further with the book.

[May · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 and 3 quarters! excellent, ending could've been slightly better.

[Steen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice; very reflective narration.

[Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main character didn't feel real, but I wanted to like him a lot. The ending wasn't satisfying. I liked his relationship with his mother and sisters. Kind of a ho-hum book for me.

[Kim ~*Nina*~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorites. I like how colme's dad tries to make up for not being with him.

[Bethany Lutz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book but the main character was a little odd.

[tamanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was decent, not fantastic but not bad.

[G Req · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really one of my best reads but I kinda liked it in some ways. I was sad when Chester died. I was 15 when I read the book.

[Alaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice message, okay writing

[Jessy · Rating 3 out of 5]

ending was good, everything else..not so well..

[Roe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great character development story.

[Adanely]

the book was interesting

[DelvonR · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very good book about how a mother leaves her child and he has to survive by himself