Saving Jasey

by Diane Tullson

Thirteen-year-old Gavin's homelife is far from perfect. His older brother is a bully, his father has no time for him, and his mother hasn't been the same since she hit a pig on the highway. Gavin finds sanctuary in his friend Trist McVeigh's seemingly perfect home. His blossoming infatuation with Trist's older sister Jasey helps fill the emotional void. But all is not as it seems in the McVeigh home. Trist's uncle suffers from Huntington's disease, a devastating degenerative brain disorder that may have been the reason for the suicide of Trist's father. Is Grandpa Jack also affected? And if so, are Trist and Jasey also in danger? Unable to deal with the threat of a potential illness, Jasey starts to self-destruct and she becomes involved with the worst kind of people. While trying to understand the dramatic changes in her personality, Gavin finds that the threat of a silent killer like Huntington's disease is as damaging as a corrosive family life. Gavin decides to do what he can to save Jasey and ultimately save himself.

Genres: Young Adult

160 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2002

About the author

Diane Tullson is a professional writer. She has published several books for young adults and written for magazines such as Canadian Living and Westworld. She has an MFA in Creative Writing, BA in English Literature, and has studied journalism and editing. Diane Tullson lives with her family near Vancouver, BC.

Reviews

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have complicated feelings about this book. Overall, I liked it. I read it in 2003 when it was nominated for the Red Maple Award. Amongst the field of contenders at that time it really didn't stand out to me, however, as time has passed, it's really the only one of those many books that I can clearly remember. The since this book comes back to me again and again, I figured that eight years later I could leave a review. As I remember it, Saving Jasey was about a very dysfunctional family, and the titulay character, Jasey, was growing up in the shadow of Huntington's Disease. What I found most remarkable about this book was, well, for children's literature it didn't hold back much. Honestly, I think that it was the first book that I felt uncomfortable reading- this was the first book that left me unsettled at its conclusion. While Saving Jasey is not perfect, I don't think it got the credit that it deserved and I was sad to see that it is now out of print.

[lucem · Rating 4 out of 5]

CIP: Canadian eighth-grader Gavin has always found refuge from his abusive father and brother with the neighboring McVeigh family, but even as his own family self-destructs, he discovers that the McVeighs are struggling to deal with a hereditary illness that can strike at any time.

Easy to read storyline would be well-suited for boys or girls, but content is really about the life of boys. Scenarios are very descriptive (violence, abuse, drugs, etc.) so I would recommend this for upper school children (8th-12th gr) and maybe even let readers know ahead of time. The very realistic ending arrived with a punch.

Reviewed favorably in School Library Journal (Apr 2002) and Publishers Weekly (1/28/2002). Athough PW's review was basically a spoiler of the last few pages.