Tag Archives: Physical Abuse

Elem./MG – Deer Run Home

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LeZotte, Ann Clare. Deer Run Home. Scholastic Press, 2024, 978-1-339-02190-0. $18.99. 224 p. Grades 5-8.

Effie was born Deaf, but no one in her family uses her language, ASL, to communicate. After an incident happened at her mom’s house, Effie and Deja are sent to move in with their father. After her ASL interpreter at school realizes that Effie may be suffering from some neglect at home with her father, she is determined to help her and get her out of that unsafe environment. 

THOUGHTS: WOW. This book blew me out of the water. There are so many different layers to Effie’s story, and it truly makes your heart hurt while also slowly putting it back together. I personally had no idea about language deprivation. This book is highly recommended for all middle school and upper elementary school libraries. 

Realistic Fiction

Effie endures food insecurity and abuse before being rescued from her living situation by a school-based interpreter. Effie is a member of the Deaf community, but no one else at home will learn American Sign Language (ASL). She recently has moved with her older sister, Deja, from their mom and stepfather’s home into their dad’s trailer. The deer outside their home capture Effie’s attention, but the deer are in danger—their safe habitat is vanishing as new homes are built, and the deer are left without anywhere to go. The deer are used as a metaphor throughout the story for Effie’s own journey. Effie is much happier at school than home; there, Miss Kathy, her ASL interpreter, gives her a voice to communicate. Miss Kathy suspects Effie’s home life is abusive and that she is harboring trauma, so the interpreter begins to investigate and intervene. Although this book offers a happy ending for Effie, the story is riddled with trauma and the sad realities of addiction and abuse.

THOUGHTS: This story is an emotional roller coaster and contains the triggering topics of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Themes are executed in a developmentally appropriate way for middle school students. The novel-in-verse format and shorter length (just over 200 pages) make this book accessible to readers. Authentic representation of Deaf community and other diverse abilities (Cerebral Palsy also represented through Cait’s character). Recommended for readers of realistic novel-in-verse survival stories like Lisa Fipps’s And Then, Boom!

Realistic Fiction

YA – Forget Me Not

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Derrick, Alyson. Forget Me Not. Simon and Schuster, 2023. 978-1-665-90237-3. 308 p. $19.99. Grades 9-12.

Set in western Pennsylvania, this LGBTQ+ romance takes an unusual turn. A senior at the local Catholic high school, Stevie is biracial with a Korean-American mother; Nora attends public school and helps out on her family’s cattle farm, although she herself strives to be vegan. Madly in love, the pair plan to escape their conservative town and parents once they graduate. Stevie has been accepted at a California college, and Nora has secured an apartment where they can begin their new lives, free of the judgment of their homophobic families and neighbors. Unlike Nora, Stevie seems to come from a close-knit, albeit conservative, family. She lies to be able to see Nora; and during one of those outings, Stevie falls off an embankment, hits her head, and suffers amnesia. Though her parents are understandably grateful to this girl who saved their daughter’s life, they have no clue of their relationship. And when she eventually awakens, neither does Stevie. This non-recognition pains Nora, so she takes to writing–but not delivering–letters to Stevie describing their romance. Derrick meets well the challenge of Stevie’s reckoning with her life as it is laid out before her when she comes to and her gradual realization that Nora is her true love. The two lovers fulfill their dream and Stevie has the added comfort of her parents’ unconditional love.

THOUGHTS: Long listed for the National Book Award, Forget Me Not reads like a fluent movie script where the reader is privy to thoughts, conversations, and feelings. Stevie’s insistence on hiding her sexuality and her relationship from her parents is understood when the reader discovers she did come out to her mother who was dismissive. Her parents’ rejection of Stevie’s revelation is blamed on their Catholic religious views; though, Pope Francis isn’t homophobic. Stevie and Nora engage in heavy kissing and one scene where they (almost) have sex until Nora’s mother catches them and beats Nora. Stevie and her (boy)friend, Ryan, are Asian, but most other characters seem white. Alyson Derrick lives in Pennsylvania; and, yes, Greenville, Pennsylvania, exists in Mercer County.

Realistic Fiction