Isabelle Bennett is shouldering a tremendous burden for a 16-year-old. Living with her alcoholic mother and two young siblings, she struggles to keep the family afloat with her part-time job, all while trying to finish high school. Overwhelmed and angry, Isabelle's only escape is in the plans she makes to move out with her cousin, whose family life is equally dysfunctional. An altercation at yet another new school brings Isabelle unwanted notoriety but also leads to an unexpected opportunity. Debut novelist Lawrence has painted a grim landscape of oppressive odds and addiction. By the end of the book, there is no guarantee that Isabelle's family will be able to rise above their circumstances or that she herself will be able to hand over any responsibility. Yet this story of resilience in the face of daily humiliations, small and large, is compelling and optimistic. Isabelle finds reason to hope, and that is all she needs to make her life about more than survival.

Gr 8 Up-Isabelle has just moved to yet another high school and hopes she can keep her head down, finish the school year, and figure out how to get away from her dysfunctional family. Her alcoholic mother keeps getting fired from one bar job and moving to a new one, taking them along in a series of unstable living situations. Her seven-year-old sister and four-year-old brother depend on Isabelle, since their mother is too drunk or hungover to care for them. And on her first day of school Isabelle punches a bully in the nose in defense of a complete stranger. Despite the hardships piled on the narrator, this is an uplifting story. Working a part-time job and caring for her family, Isabelle finds friends, academic and creative success, and romance. Much of the supporting cast, like the mean girl clique and her kindly convenience store employers, are broadly drawn, but Isabelle's internal life is clear, sharp, and urgent. There's enough drama and trauma to catch readers' interest, with a satisfyingly happy but not unrealistic ending. VERDICT This title could be a validating mirror for some, an empathetic window for others, and a hard-edged good read besides. Kyle Lukoff, Corlears School, New York City

Picking up the kids, making dinner, cleaning the houseIsabelle seems more like a busy mother and less like a sixteen-year-old. Her mother, an alcoholic, is barely able to take care of herself, let alone her three kids. Isabelle becomes set in a routine, moving from school to school and doing her best to blend in without getting noticed. That all changes at her new school after she finds herself in the middle of a fight with one of the popular girls. All of a sudden, Isabelle needs to learn how to juggle surviving in a school as an eleventh grader with a target on her back and surviving at home as the most responsible person under the roof.Rodent breathes life into an untraditional family structure, one where the child is thrown into the role of the parent. Abuse, some profanity, and violence intertwine to create a story of survival at its very core. Lawrence creates a character in Isabelle's mother that is tragically flawed, making mistake after mistake, apologizing but not knowing how to truly change. By establishing her in this way, Lawrence shows one of the many ugly faces of alcoholism. Perhaps this face has not had as much spotlight as the violent face often depicted in stories of the same ilk. For that reason, Rodent becomes an important story, one that brings new light to a pervasive problem buried in our society.Richard Vigdor.With the backdrop of life-threatening peril, unlikely friendships are forged and secrets revealed in a long, difficult day for the protagonists. Each of the characters wears the label that he or she has at school, as reflected in the title, but the group comes to realize there is more to the others than what meets the eye. The story is heavily plot driven, and much happens very quickly to these characters. It is a suspenseful ride, full of twists, turns, and revelations, both personal and related to the caper.Erin Wyatt.Lee, Stacey. Outrun the Moon. Putnam /Penguin Random House, 2016. 400p. $17.99.