ALA Booklist (Wed Dec 06 00:00:00 CST 2023)

While 13-year-old Claire knows that her parents' relationship has been troubled recently, she receives two shocks in quick succession when she and her parents go on a summer vacation. First, her mother takes Claire out for lunch and shares a devastating secret with her. Next, Mom complains of a sudden, severe headache and falls to the floor, unconscious. Diagnosed with a ruptured brain aneurysm, she needs surgery. When Mom regains consciousness, she remembers nothing of their mother-daughter outing or their conversation (to Claire's intense relief), though Mom's other memory gaps are disturbing to Claire. Mom remains in the hospital with Dad by her side, but Claire returns home under her aunt's care until her parents return. In an appended note, Fritz relates her own experiences with ruptured brain aneurysms. Written in free verse that is sometimes poetic and sometimes more like prose spaced out on the page, Claire's first-person narrative is highly accessible, increasingly involving, and sometimes riveting. The novel will particularly resonate with readers who have seen how medical issues can disrupt family life.

Kirkus Reviews

The cadence and imagery of poetry illuminate a journey through grief and fear to healing and self-discovery.In her second verse novel, Fritz uses narrative free verse and the imagery of oceans and lighthouses in rhythmic poetry to tell the story of Claire Sloan, a 13-year-old who navigates an awakening sense of self along with the shock of witnessing her mother suffer a serious medical event. The poems, told in Claire's first-person narration, are divided into three parts that build on one another like successive waves. In "Low Tide," readers learn about Claire's family's summer vacation in Maine and the sudden onset of her mom's ruptured brain aneurysm. Claire brings readers with her through her mom's time in the hospital and her fears about what it might mean if she doesn't survive. In "Midtide," poems narrate Claire's return home to Pennsylvania, where she enters eighth grade, swims in the churning waters of young adolescence, and explores her grief. In "High Tide," Claire's mom returns home from rehab; the poems evoke the entire family's healing journey, including Claire's discovery of how to best express her own burgeoning hope and understanding. The author's note describes Fritz's personal experiences with two brain aneurysm ruptures. The strong pace and interesting subject matter make this work broadly compelling and accessible. The Sloans are white; Claire has good friends who are Black and Latine.A compulsively readable account of a young teen's journey toward hope. (Verse fiction. 9-14)

Publishers Weekly (Thu Oct 03 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Engaging verse ferries vulnerable emotion as poet Fritz (Everywhere Blue) excavates hope from medical drama in this quietly powerful story about healing. While vacationing in Maine, bookish 13-year-old Claire Sloan mourns her parents’ relationship, which has grown strained. When her mother confides to Claire that she’s going to end the marriage, then abruptly suffers a brain-bleed, Claire is conflicted: full recovery means that Mom will proceed with the divorce. Further interpersonal turmoil prompts Claire to cultivate new ways to manage her feelings; she finds comfort in writing, photography, bibliotherapy, and fortified friendships. As she comes to terms with the harrowing event, Claire asserts that while nothing is quite as it was, the experiences she gained through the hardship are invaluable, and “for now that’s enough.” Gently educational, hopeful text—which teems with potent imagery of water and light—is occasionally interspersed with skillfully crafted villanelle and nonet poems that guide the story to its stirring conclusion. Fritz utilizes her own experiences having survived two aneurysms, as discussed in an author’s note, to infuse Claire’s recognition of her own courage and growing resilience with heartening resonance. The Sloan family is white; supporting characters are racially diverse. Ages 8–12. (Nov.)

School Library Journal (Wed Nov 01 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Gr 5 Up— This heartfelt, intense story is written in verse and filled with heavy topics and emotional moments. Claire, an eighth grader vacationing with her parents in Maine, is a typical preteen pushing boundaries, but is aware enough to realize there is a problem in her family. Claire's mom and dad are no longer happily married, and Claire wants life to go back to when everyone talked and laughed with one another. She hoped the trip would help, but it only seems to make the growing chasm more real. During lunch one day, her mom confides a very big secret and then collapses from a ruptured brain aneurysm. Claire's mom survives, but the recovery is long. Plus, she doesn't seem to remember sharing the secret with Claire but not her husband. How long can the girl carry this secret from the grown-ups it affects, and how long will she be able to cope with seeing her mom so changed? This story is packed with beautiful emotions, conveyed by equally apt descriptions; even though there are few words on the page, every word matters. The hospital stay is described in great detail, from the frightening early days for Claire to all the overwhelming medical jargon. A survivor of two aneurysms, Fritz captures the trauma and recovery journey of this difficult experience with accuracy and skill. A poignant story that gives children many examples of resilience amid scary life moments, such as parental death and divorce. VERDICT Librarians with readers craving angsty, realistic fiction without having to commit to a full prose novel would be well-served to add this title to their collection.— Maria Ramusevic