far from the tree robin benway sparknotes

'Benway fearlessly examines the effects of loss and return from every perspective Hope, confusion, frustration, and love coexist without shame as teens and parents come to grips with the realization that nothing stays the same no matter how desperately we want it to.' - Booklist From the first page to the last, this compassionate, funny, moving, compulsively readable novel about what makes a family gets it right.' - Kirkus Writing in a shifting third-person narrative that is both nonjudgmental and deeply empathetic, Benway ( Emmy & Oliver) delves into the souls of these characters as they wrestle to overcome feelings of inadequacy, abandonment, and betrayal, gradually coming to understand themselves and each other.' - Publishers Weekly After seventeen years in the foster care system, he's learned that there are no heroes, and secrets and fears are best kept close to the vest, where they can't hurt anyone but him.ĭon't miss this moving novel that addresses such important topics as adoption, teen pregnancy, and foster care. And when her adopted family's long-buried problems begin to explode to the surface, Maya can't help but wonder where exactly it is that she belongs.Īnd Joaquin, their stoic older bio brother, who has no interest in bonding over their shared biological mother. Having grown up the snarky brunette in a house full of chipper redheads, she's quick to search for traces of herself among these not-quite-strangers. Maya, her loudmouthed younger bio sister, who has a lot to say about their newfound family ties. After putting her own baby up for adoption, she goes looking for her biological family, including.

Robin Benway's beautiful interweaving story of three very different teenagers connected by blood explores the meaning of family in all its forms - how to find it, how to keep it, and how to love it.īeing the middle child has its ups and downs.īut for Grace, an only child who was adopted at birth, discovering that she is a middle child is a different ride altogether.

Far from the tree robin benway sparknotes