Hugging the Rock

I loved the writing. I loved the story. I loved the characters. This is not a book you will forget quickly. It will stay with you, and you may find yourself picking up the book again and again, to reread favorite poems that say so much in so few words. I look forward to more novels by this talented author!

On a grey and rainy afternoon recently, I curled up and read Hugging the Rock straight through. Rachel's struggle to grow and to understand her mom's abandonment is sparely and beautifully shown in this novel in verse. I cried with Rachel but also felt myself let go of the pain as she did, as she came to rely more on her father and on herself, too. Highly recommended!

This is a very moving verse novel about a girl adjusting to life without her mother. Although there is pain in the book, caused by life with and without a mentally unbalanced mother, the bond that forms between the girl and her father is beautiful. Hugging the Rock was a real pleasure to read.

Hugging the Rock is a middle grade novel written in verse. It's the story of how pre-teen Rachel adjusts after her mentally ill mother leaves home, and how she learns to rely on her emotionally distant father (the "rock" of the title). She starts out in denial, not doing her chores, not doing her homework, not telling her best friend or her teacher what's going on. Gradually, Rachel begins to learn more about her mercurial mother, and why her mother couldn't stay. She also learns more about her father, as they work together to build a new life for themselves. Rachel's voice is pitch perfect. The verse format works well in conveying her disjointed thoughts, and her up and down moods. The verse also makes the book fly by - I read it in one sitting. But it makes you want to go back and re-read individual poems, too. I have two favorite parts. The first is the page titled "Mother's Day". The rest of the page is just blank. As in, what is there to say, it's Mother's Day, and my mother went away and left because she didn't want to be with us. These words don't need to be said - they're right there, hidden, on the blank page. There's also a scene in which Rachel and her father are in the car, returning home from an emotional visit to their counselor, Dr. Dan. Dad tries to talk. Rachel shrugs. Dad tries again, and, we hear from Rachel "I shrug louder." It's brilliant! This book packs a lot into relatively few words. Susan Taylor Brown offers insights into life with a mentally ill parent, how fathers parent differently from mothers, how personally kids take any parental rejection, how "sometimes dads are better moms than moms are", and how, ultimately, people adapt to changing circumstances. Hugging the Rock is beautifully written, and I give it my highest recommendation. This book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on May 15, 2006, and was made possible by an advance reading copy.

Rachel's mother runs away from home and she is left behind with her father, an emotionally-distant man she barely knows. The reader is thrown into the middle of Rachel's journey as she looks for answers and acceptance. Susan Taylor Brown tells a moving story in Hugging the Rock. She dares to bring painful emotions to the surface, connecting with her readers through shared feelings and experiences. A powerful novel with the potential to spark heart-to-heart conversations among families and friends.