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Holding on To Zoe
There is something not quite right about teenage mother Jules from the beginning of George Ella Lyon’s novel. It’s not just that her life—working in a factory while trying to raise her baby—is such a challenge, it’s also that she thinks of her baby daughter, Zoe, as “the answer to everything.” Jules feels so needy, and somewhat nebulous, in a way that is unsettling. A few chapters in, Lyon blows the plot wide open with a revelation that transforms this from a tale of teen pregnancy and parenting to one about the emotional and psychological trauma of abuse. Jules was pregnant but it was an ectopic pregnancy; in her mind, however, the baby is alive. Her journey through psychosis is both compelling and deeply disturbing as she struggles to come to terms with her past and, with help, realizes that there are people in the real world who love and care about her. ©2012 Cooperative Children's Book Center
CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 13 and older
Age Range:
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Format:
Novel
Subjects:
Grief and Loss
Hope and Healing
Mental Health and Illness
Pregnancy
Sexual Abuse
Trauma
Diversity subject:
Psychiatric Disability/Condition
Publishers:
Farrar Straus Giroux, Margaret Ferguson Books
Publish Year: 2012
Pages: 166
ISBN: 9780374332648
CCBC Location: Fiction, Lyon