Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 04/01/2015 Gr 7 Up—Sixteen-year-old Sydney has always felt overshadowed by her handsome, popular, and troubled older brother Peyton. Now, he is in prison for a drunk driving accident that paralyzed another teen boy, and despite his incarceration, Sydney finds her mother's only focus is Peyton and that her dad has pretty much checked out of any decision making. When Sydney decides to leave her expensive private school and go to the local public school, her parents agree to allow the change. After her first day of school, she stops by a pizza shop where she meets brother and sister Layla and Mac, whose father owns the shop. In the duo, Sydney finds much needed acceptance. In their mother, she discovers a person she can talk to who will listen and give her the advice she craves. Dessen delves deeply into family relationships and roles. Because of Peyton's actions, Sydney's family is unable to handle what has happened. Layla and Mac's family also has its problems with a wayward daughter and an ill mother, but instead of being torn apart, they have drawn closer together. The contrast between the two families—economically and in their ability to function—provides added tension. Although this work is darker than her other romances, the light and joy of first love, friendship, and self-discovery remain important aspects of the book. VERDICT Taut, tightly structured with well-rounded characters, this novel is sure to please Dessen's many fans and attract new ones.—Janet Hilbun, University of North Texas - Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 04/01/2015 When Sydney’s brother, Peyton, was sentenced to prison after paralyzing a 15-year-old while driving drunk, it was the culmination of an escalating stream of lawless behavior. Sydney coped by closing in on herself, drawing away from her charming brother’s popularity—now infamy—and spending most of her time at home alone watching reality TV. After transferring to public school, she has a chance meeting with Layla, a whimsical and opinionated girl who works at her family’s pizzeria with her handsome brother, Mac. Sydney finds herself inexplicably drawn to Layla, who becomes exactly the kind of fiercely supportive friend she needs as she struggles to carve out a space for herself in her mother’s Peyton-centric orbit. As Sydney grows closer to Layla (and deliciously closer to Mac), her sense of agency and determination grows, too. In classic Dessen style, the book plumbs the depths of Sydney’s interior life, lightening the mood with well-timed moments of witty banter, often between Layla and Sydney, whose friendship is the emotional centerpiece of the novel. Another incisive and sensitive character-driven story sure to please her many, many fans. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Dessen’s hordes of fans probably already know about this novel and are lying in wait, lurking behind the corner of your circulation desk as we speak. - Copyright 2015 Booklist.

Bulletin for the Center... - 07/01/2015 Sydney is the good sibling, leaving the screwing up to her older brother, Peyton, whoes drunk-driving accident leaves a fifteen-year-old boy paralyzed. A devastated Sydney transfers from private to public school, where she is embraced by a group of new friends, including a pair of siblings from the Chatham family, who are several steps below her parents’ income bracket. The various Chathams meet Sydney’s every relationship and personal growth need: Layla becomes her unflappable, nonjudgmental best friend; Mac fills the role of protective, sensitive boyfriend; and their mother, who has MS, becomes her surrogate mom, dispensing wisdom and advice to help Sydney move past her anger and guilt. Each secondary character appears carefully designed to be a prop in Sydney’s drama, and the clear class binary between the dysfunctional rich and the deserving poor is heavy-handed to say the least. However, Dessen’s fans are sure to appreciate the successful formula she has developed of a girl coming into a strong sense of self through mother/daughter conflict, the support of a spunky female friend, and above all, finding the right guy. KC - Copyright 2015 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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