Mirror Boy

by Jeremy Spiegel, Ellen Kleiner (Editor), David Moseley (Illustrator)

Once again, Jason Rofeor's mother has locked him out of the house naked from the ankles up, only now he is sixteen and no longer willing to tolerate her abusive behaviors.

Mirror Boy chronicles his search for a father figure, having lost his dad to divorce years before, while living with his mentally unstable mother and her revolving door of unsavory men. Only through his ritual of "mirror time" is Jason ultimately able to access his authenticity and begin directing his own life.

This contemporary coming-of-age novel explores how a young man finds a path toward self-determination amid family turmoil, where the unconscious becomes a source of insight and healing.

348 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 12, 2026

Reviews

[Maya Spiegel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I laughed, I cried.

[mimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Mirror Boy by Jeremy Spiegel especially hard to get through, for a lot of reasons, but also because so much of Jason’s life was completely and utterly relatable. For this reason, it took me a lot longer to get through this story than it should have, so reading it immersive along with the audiobook helped tremendously.

This story was maddening, heartbreaking and every emotion in-between. Watching Jason go through all of the devastating trials of his young life, not only with his severely mental mother, but with every single person who was in his life was distressing. The ending was gratifying.

[Jeff Siperly · Rating 3.75 out of 5]

This was a hard read, only because my childhood sucked.

But I loved Jason’s journey (apropos, even though the word is overused) to find himself beyond his family. It felt real, the rough times which made the ending that much better.

That mother of his. Lord, she was ticking me off.

I received this book as a LibraryThing Early Reviewer.