by Ilsa BickAt 16, Jenna Lord has suffered enough misfortune to last a lifetime. Badly burned in the fire that destroys her grandfather's house, she subsequently suffers a breakdown and is briefly institutionalized. Her homelife isn't much better: she calls her plastic-surgeon father Psycho Dad, her mother abuses alcohol, and her beloved older brother and only confidant is in Iraq. To make things even worse, she cuts herself. Jenna is figuratively drowning in disorder until she enrolls in a new school and meets her chemistry teacher, a caring man who strives to help her. Jenna's gratitude turns quickly to love and things get . . . complicated. Bick, a child psychiatrist, writes about dysfunction with a professional's insight, and she goes to great pains to create believable characterstoo much so, making the novel excessively long. Nevertheless, she manages to avoid the didactic and dramatizes dysfunction and disorder in ways that will attract readers and offer opportunities for classroom discussion.
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