ALA Booklist (Mon Jun 05 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Rynn has known for a while that she was adopted and that her birth mother wanted a closed adoption. For Rynn, it's like pulling teeth to get information about her birth mom from her adoptive parents. The one thing Rynn does know for sure is that her birth mother named her Scheherazade, and with that information she is able to discover that her birth mother died some years ago and that she has a little sister in foster care. Rynn has to learn what it means to be a sister, daughter, and a niece all while navigating the nuances of developing her own identity. Throughout the story, readers will be impressed with Culley's intimate, multilayered perspective of adoption and familial dynamics. Culley jumps between Rynn and her sister, Ella, creating a space of introspection and agency for both of the girls. This novel's lyrical verse format explores both the pain and joy of piecing together broken families.

Kirkus Reviews

A teen in rural Maine searches for her birth family against the wishes of her adoptive mother and the state's legal barriers in this novel in verse.Rynn, 16, knows her birth mother named her Scheherazade, wanted her raised on a farm, and kept her younger sister, born seven years later. Surgery cured Rynn's cleft palate and mended the holes in her heart and back but not her aching sense of loss. Close to her gentle adoptive dad, a New York City transplant who sells his garlic at the farmers market, Rynn has stopped trying to please her unhappy adoptive mom, Leanne, whose grievances, genuine traumas (her lost pregnancies and own mother's abandonment), and simmering resentment erupt unpredictably. Lacking Leanne's consent, Rynn can't access her birth records until she's 18, but supported by friends, she finds an uncle in Arizona and Ella, her 9-year-old sister, who is in foster care nearby. Fleeing Leanne's abusive anger, Rynn finds refuge with family friends. She opposes her parents' efforts to adopt Ella, who has a loving bond with her foster mother. Variously scarred by past addiction, poverty, bad health, and bad luck, the well-drawn characters, mostly White, largely prove resilient and kind. An adoptee herself, Culley writes with insight and nuance about biological families and those formed in other ways. The direct, straightforward poems effectively flesh out the characterization and are accessible to reluctant readers.Compassionate and compelling. (Verse novel. 12-18)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Culley’s (Three Things I Know Are True) evocative verse centers 16-year-old adoptee Rynn searching for answers about her past. Rynn lives on a Maine garlic farm with her soft-spoken Jewish father and her mercurial mother, whose personal traumas affect her relationship with Rynn. Though Rynn is content hanging out with her best friend or babysitting her toddler neighbor, she longs to learn about her birth family. But without her adoptive mother’s consent, she must wait until she turns 18 to access her official birth records. With encouragement from friends, Rynn uses one of the few clues she has—her atypical birth name, Scheherazade—to unearth her past on her own. Wistful verse highlights small but telling moments throughout Rynn’s search, from connecting with her biological half sister to growing increasingly distant from her adoptive family while seeking the love and acceptance she desperately needs elsewhere. The author’s lived history with foster care and adoption gives the narrative nuance and authority. Emotionally complex and empathetic characters (most of whom cue as white) and a faithfully depicted rural landscape form an exemplary backdrop for this contemplative novel. Ages 13–up. Agent: Steven Chudney, Chudney Agency. (June)

School Library Journal (Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

Gr 7 Up Her birth mother named her Scheherazade, the only thing she has from her. Renamed by her adoptive parents, Rynn finds her adoptive mother chilly and at times emotionally abusive. While her adoptive father is loving, he seems a bit obtuse when it comes to Rynn's struggles with her mom. At 16, she is not of legal age to open her adoption records, but she remembers Grammie True was into genealogy, which prompts her to dig into her birth family history online herself. When her research turns up a deceased birth mother and a living biological sister, she is heartbroken but motivated to find the sister she never knew. Emotions run high in this novel-in-verse; Rynn feels erased when she learns her birth family never knew she existed. She takes comfort in the fact that birth mother "Sherry" Scheherazade shared her own name, and that her sister Sorella's name literally means "sister." The reflective tone is apparent during Rynn's journey finding her own identity and the pieces she feels are missing. Her internal "multiverse" of adopted family/birth family/found family is introspective and evolving. Main characters in the story are white living on farmland in Maine. Culley notes that she was adopted from foster care and discovered siblings later in life. She portrays these families in nuanced ways as connections are forged. VERDICT Melodic verse is perfect for the poignant moments that cultivate both compassion and hope. Recommended for all libraries serving teens. Lisa Krok