The Way Back from Broken
Binding: Paperback
Age 11+
General Fiction
A unique, heartfelt, and gorgeously written story of the power of wilderness to heal.
Rakmen's baby sister died in his arms of a heart defect. Now his family is broken, sinking in grief, guilt, and resentment. Amidst this dysfunction Rakman finds himself accompanying another grieving family (the dead baby club isn't well know, but it has many members) on a canoe cmaping trip in the Canadian wilderness. Even thogh it's a terrible idea, the trip provides him with one last longshot chance to find the way back from broken. If he's brave enough to grab it. Amber Keyser's YA debut is a wrenching and brutally honest story of adversity and hope from the point of view of the sibling left behind in the aftermath of the death of an infant.
Creators
Amber J. Keyser trained as an evolutionary biologist and cares deeply about the intersection of art and science. Her recent non-fiction titles include Sneaker Century: A History of Athletic Shoes and The V-Word, an acclaimed anthology of personal essays by women about first time sexual experiences. Her young adult novels include Pointe, Claw, an explosive novel about two girls claiming the territory over their own bodies, and The Way Back From Broken, a heart-wrenching novel of loss and survival, which is a finalist for the oregon Book Award. She is also the co-author, with Kiersi Burkhart, of the middle grade Quartz Creek Ranch series. For more information, visit www.amberjkeyser.com
Reviews
The Way Back from Broken is compelling and unrelenting—a story for anyone trying to find their own way back.
The Way Back from Broken is a powerful story about how hard it can be to heal yourself when everyone around you is broken, too. Amber J. Keyser takes the reader inside the pain of loss, making it personal and ragged in all the best ways, so that each step toward healing builds to a life-affirming and cathartic conclusion. An impressive debut novel that takes readers on a journey rich in emotion and adventure.
This poignant tale explores grief through a 15-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl, both of whom have lost infant siblings. For 10 months after his newborn sister’s death, Rakmen Cannon has grudgingly joined his mother at ‘dead baby club,’ his term for weekly bereavement support meetings in their Portland, Oregon, neighborhood. There, he recognizes his biology teacher, Leah Tatlas, and meets her preteen daughter, Jacey, who instantly grows attached to him. At the end of the school year, Leah invites Rakmen to join them on a summer trip to a remote lake cabin in Canada. Though he suspects it’s a terrible idea, Rakmen reluctantly agrees to go, because his parents announce they need to work on their crumbling marriage. The dilapidated cabin leaves little exciting for Rakmen to do?and occasionally little for readers to follow, though it does provide the setting for quiet moments of introspection and friendship between sullen Rakmen and curious Jacey. The pace builds during a tense final act?an unexpectedly frightening canoe-camping trip the three of them undertake at Leah’s insistence. A few plot twists seem unnecessarily harrowing, and the story’s initial pace coupled with the unsettling subject matter of infant deaths may cause readers to occasionally stop and process. But Rakmen’s and Jacey’s journeys to make peace with their sadness make the emotional ride worthwhile. A quiet and memorable story of how paddling in the wilderness forces two unlikely friends to face their grief and embrace their power.
Kirkus Reviews
