FINDING HOME

In Thompson’s YA novel, a teen grapples with homelessness and a meth-addicted parent while also trying to address his floundering academic performance at high school.

In many ways, Doyle seems to be an average Edison High School student. He is the fastest runner in gym class, but he struggles with math and reading. Using peer tutoring and a helpful website that aids with math skills, Doyle hopes to raise his grades enough to be eligible for the track team. He’s also met a girl he likes named Olive. However, Doyle’s home life is a huge roadblock to his goals. Once, he lived in an apartment with a mom who made great coffee cake; now, the two currently sleep in Dover Park in their Nissan and wash up in the dirty park bathroom. Even worse, Doyle’s unemployed mom is addicted to meth and expects his help supporting her habit: In wealthy neighborhoods, Doyle’s tasked with swiping packages off porches so she can sell the contents. Everything changes when mother and son, holding a stolen laptop, get caught by the police. Though Doyle’s life wasn’t ideal before, he had become accustomed to it. Now, facing new challenges—such as placement with a foster family, life without his now-incarcerated mom, and an unexpected link to his peer tutor—Doyle struggles to once again find his footing. Thompson captures the essence of his 15-year-old narrator; not an enthusiastic reader, Doyle speaks using simple and drab words, but his own difficult circumstances give him sharp perceptions. (Of his English teacher, he says, “She’s old, and sometimes she gets cranky. But she cares about us.”) This pared-down approach also works well for supporting characters; though lightly sketched, they are fully dimensional. (Doyle’s mother’s teeth are turning brown, but she hopes to work again soon; Perry, Doyle’s tutor, is “mad-dogging” him one minute, helpful the next.) Thompson opts for realism rather than moralizing; Doyle is happy his mom will quit meth in prison, but he realizes she may relapse. The author does offer cautious hope and useful advice—to improve academically, Doyle reads books below his grade level and learns to accept help.

Easily readable, clear-sighted, and empathetic writing.