Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 08/01/2021 *Starred Review* Everyone in Mill Haven has secrets—even smart, rich Emory Ward, kid sister to the beautiful Maddie and troubled Joey. The night she and Joey were passengers in a car crash that killed Candy MontClair, Emmy thought Joey was just drunk; no one knew the extent of his drug addiction until then. When Joey comes home after months of rehab, their mother instructs Emmy to be with Joey 24/7 to make sure he adheres to the suffocating volume of rules laid out for him. Emmy loves Joey and wants to help him stay strong, but she has her own secret struggles. With the help of unlikely but welcome allies, Emmy’s love and support for her brother remain constant, especially when he feels lost and at his most fragile. Meanwhile, the realities of “ghosties”—homeless and drug addicted people living by the town’s river—are exposed, compel action, and give new meaning to community. Told by Emmy, who courageously begins to shed the labels thrust upon her, Glasgow’s new novel compassionately illustrates the profound power of love and how deeply the opioid crisis and addiction affect families and the towns in which they live. The play Our Town and the author’s own recovery are the inspiration behind this remarkable and engrossing novel of life’s balance and imbalance between struggle and joy. - Copyright 2021 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 08/01/2021 Gr 9 Up—Emory Ward has spent her life living in the shadow of her beautiful older sister, her troubled brother, and her super successful parents who expect her to be perfect. After a summer of turmoil, Emory returns to school as an outcast—the sister of an addict who the whole town holds responsible for the death of a young girl, she struggles to make new friends and take care of her brother who seems dangerously close to a relapse all the time. A story on the surface that seems to focus around her brother's addiction and rehabilitation, it's really about Emmy's story of rehabbing who she is and who she wants to be. This portrays the very real struggles that many communities experience. The narrative presents a nuanced look at a family trying to keep their loved ones safe and the toll that addiction takes on all of its members. A heartbreaking yet important story that will resonate with many, it also brings home the effects that addiction can take on an entire community. VERDICT A must-have for all high school fiction collections.—Erica Coonelly, Monroe Township M.S., NJ - Copyright 2021 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.