As teenage Jeff takes care of his increasingly sick father, parent-child roles begin to flip. He struggles when the realization hits that he can be a caregiver or a normal teen, but never both. When Jeff's father enters a rehab facility, the nurse assigned to his case happens to be transgender. Jeff is initially disgusted by the nurse but, eventually, comes to care for her. While not dwelling on his emotional journey, Jacobs clearly depicts Jeff's change of heart toward Andrea, the nurse, as well as the helplessness the teen feels over having a loved one with health problems. Though the dialogue doesn't always ring true, the book's direct sentences, short chapters, and intriguing premise will keep reluctant readers invested. This high/low offering tackles topics that should be covered in YA but do not often see discussion. For readers looking for something more challenging, Laurie Halse Anderson's The Impossible Knife of Memory (2014) bears a similar teen-as-caregiver thread.

Jeff yearns for a less stressful lifestyle, but being his terminally ill father's sole caregiver brings only anxiety and fear. After a crisis causes hospitalization, Jeff, already upset, is shocked that their nurse, Andrea, is transgender. Along with superior care, however, she helps him understand her situation and eventually becomes a close friend.This hi-lo novel's chapters are one or two pages, with simplistic plot and characterization. Oddly, Jeff is frequently unlikeable and vacillates between rage and self-pity, seemingly blaming his father more for stealing his leisure time than expressing sadness or fear. His disappearance when with his father, without family or school personnel noticing, is unrealistic, and although Andrea is presented positively, the lack of finances stalling her surgeries and causing regression is confusing and needs more coverage. While this novel and its cover are unlikely to lure reading-challenged males, other series titles should be more appealing.Lisa A. Hazlett.